The Drama of the Commons Paperback / softback

The "tragedy of the commons" is a central concept in human ecology and the study of the environment.

It has had tremendous value for stimulating research, but it only describes the reality of human-environment interactions in special situations.

Research over the past thirty years has helped clarify how human motivations, rules governing access to resources, the structure of social organizations, and the resource systems themselves interact to determine whether or not the many dramas of the commons end happily.

In this book, leaders in the field review the evidence from several disciplines and many lines of research and present a state-of-the-art assessment.

They summarize lessons learned and identify the major challenges facing any system of governance for resource management.

They also highlight the major challenges for the next decade: making knowledge development more systematic; understanding institutions dynamically; considering a broader range of resources (such as global and technological commons); and taking into account the effects of social and historical context.

This book will be a valuable and accessible introduction to the field for students and a resource for advanced researchers. Table of ContentsFront Matter1 The Drama of the CommonsPart I: Resource Users, Resource Systems, and Behavior in theDrama of the Commons2 Common Resources and Institutional Sustainability3 Unequal Irrigators: Heterogeneity and Commons Management inLarge-Scale4 Factors Influencing Cooperation in Commons Dilemmas: A Review ofExperimental Psychological Research5 Appropriating the Commons: A Theoretical ExplanationPart II: Privatization and Its Limitations6 The Tradable Permits Approach to Protecting the Commons: WhatHave We Learned?7 Common Property, Regulatory Property, and EnvironmentalProtection: Comparing Community-Based Management to TradableEnvironmental AllowancesPart III: Cross-Scale Linkages and Dynamic Interactions8 Institutional Interplay: The Environmental Consequences ofCross-Scale Interactions9 Cross-Scale Institutional Linkages: Perspectives from the BottomUpPart IV: Emerging Issues10 Scientific Uncertainty, Complex Systems, and the Design ofCommon-Pool Institutions11 Emergence of Institutions for the Commons: Contexts, Situations,and Events12 An Evolutionary Theory of Commons Management13 Knowledge and Questions After 15 Years of ResearchAbout the ContributorsIndex