Towards Common Ground

3 units

Given that free market interests and extraction dominate contemporary urbanization, this class will explore socio-spatial configurations towards commoning that are surfacing within today's urban reality. With this in mind, you are invited to explore opportunities towards a common ground via the creation of a game. The debate on urban commons and commoning has grown exponentially in the twenty-first century. We are confronted with a significant amount of literature on commons, commoning, and the common, while the contemporary urban world is dominated by socio-economic disparities, privatization, inadequate resource distribution, and excessive resource extraction. As these forces and challenges unfold, the urge of urban inhabitants to collectively come together is on the rise. We generally see commoning as a base for collaboration and solidarity. Commoning, however, is a complex process as it relates to sharing knowledge and resources, and with regard to conflict and power struggles. Commoning in this context is an act of collective self-regulation and of self-awareness, as the sharing of resources, knowledge, and power create constantly changing rules for commoning and Commoners alike. As the philosopher Jacques Rancière reminds us, flourishing processes of commoning need both narrators and translators. Together, they enable commoning; they help facilitate the connection between people to enable new spatial configurations and stories to unfold. This course organized through two main principal agendas that are intertwined with one another -(re)search analysis and the development of a game revolving around the idea of commoning. The final product of this course will conclude with a play/presentation of the game you develop.