The Uncommon Knowledge of Elinor Ostrom: Essential Lessons for Collective Action

by Erik Nordman

In the 1970s, the accepted environmental thinking was that overpopulation was destroying the earth. Prominent economists and environmentalists agreed that the only way to stem the tide was to impose restrictions on how we used resources, such as land, water, and fish, from either the free market or the government. This notion was upended by Elinor Ostrom, whose work to show that regular people could sustainably manage their community resources eventually won her the Nobel Prize. Ostrom’s revolutionary proposition fundamentally changed the way we think about environmental governance. 
 
In The Uncommon Knowledge of Elinor Ostrom , author Erik Nordman brings to life Ostrom’s brilliant mind. Half a century ago, she was rejected from doctoral programs because she was a woman; in 2009, she became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics. Her research challenged the long-held dogma championed by Garrett Hardin in his famous 1968 essay, “The Tragedy of the Commons,” which argued that only market forces or government regulation can prevent the degradation of common pool resources. The concept of the “Tragedy of the Commons” was built on scarcity and the assumption that individuals only act out of self-interest. Ostrom’s research proved that people can and do act in collective interest, coming from a place of shared abundance. Ostrom’s ideas about common resources have played out around the world, from Maine lobster fisheries, to ancient waterways in Spain, to taxicabs in Nairobi. In writing The Uncommon Knowledge of Elinor Ostrom , Nordman traveled extensively to interview community leaders and stakeholders who have spearheaded innovative resource-sharing systems, some new, some centuries old. Through expressing Ostrom’s ideas and research, he also reveals the remarkable story of her life.
 
Ostrom broke barriers at a time when women were regularly excluded from academia and her research challenged conventional thinking. Elinor Ostrom proved that regular people can come together to act sustainably—if we let them. This message of shared collective action is more relevant than ever for solving today’s most pressing environmental problems.

Genres: Science

256 pages, Paperback

Published July 8, 2021

Reviews

[David Lopez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Si eres de las personas que recién comenzó a estudiar la tragedia de los comunes, has leído unos cuantos artículos pero te interesa conocer más sobre el trabajo de Ostrom y sus aplicaciones. Entonces este libro seguro es para ti. Dónde y cuándo el manejo gerencial de los recursos por parte de la comunidad es una mejor alternativa al gobierno y al mercado. De fácil lectura, algunos capítulos muy pedagógicos, no lineal (puedes saltar entre capítulos).

[Alex Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating insight into the life and work of Elinor Ostrom, who won the Nobel Prize in economics for demonstrating how communities can self-organise to manage common pool resources. This accessible book details her life and work in the first 6 chapters, then specific applications in the next 3, before rounding off with a chapter about her recognition by the Nobel Foundation.

The chapter on Commons in the Digital World has something to say about Open Source software, libraries, cybernetics and internet governance. It's good. As you'd expect, the digital realm has differences to natural resource management, but there's persuasive argument that common pool resources exist. Not huge amounts of detail but enough pointers to other work in this area.

[Pat Loughery · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent, very approachable introduction to Elinor Ostrom and her research into community management of common-pool resources using example stories.. think water rights, forestry, space exploration, fishing, climate, open source software…

I’m doing some work and thinking around The Commons, The Common Good, Common Pool Resources - and this is a great intro to Ostrom’s Nobel Prize winning work.

I do wish it were a bit deeper, but it’s a wonderful introduction.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book a lot. It gave me a lot to think about in how communities and even nations rely on not regulations, but citizen action to care for resources, to manage them, and to be wise about it. There were lots of jewels in this little book. I wish I had met Professor Ostrom when she was alive and just a few miles down the road from me!

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good summary of the works by Elinor Ostrom and the new institutional economics. The "fake" Nobel prize did award more worthy recipients in recent decades. As I mentioned before, social issues are messy than physics, turning economics into mathematics and ignoring the limitation of the method are never the right way.

[Michael Giberson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engaging survey of Elinor Ostrom’s career and the wide range of applications of the institutional analysis and design principles that she developed along with her colleagues. Would be an excellent book for introducing an undergraduate student to Ostrom’s work.

[Shalom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrific summary of a seminal thinker's life and research. Engagingly written; enough substance for the reader to know how to pursue interesting points in more depth; mostly avoids hagiography.

[Lucille Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Equal parts intellectual history and biography, it provides an excellent background and context to Ostrom's groundbreaking work.

[Ville Svärd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Profound, thought-provoking reading and an impressive scientific lifes work.