Common(s)

The complexity of the vocabulary of the commons stems primarily from the use of the same word which, depending on the context or whether it is singular or plural, will designate concepts that are fundamentally distinct from each other.

We will therefore make a distinction between:

• the common, often associated with the term "good". It is a political principle of egalitarian democracy in the access to shared resources, which can be broken down into...

• a common, for each set of rules of access and use determined in a democratic way that embodies the common, and that generates...

• commons, which are bodies of shared resources on which is applied a common determined by...

• communities, which are the set of actors gathered around each of these commons.

Over and above their functional properties, the commons are therefore political objects in the first place [Dardot, 2017]. It is only their rules of use and the reality of their application that give them this title.