Article title: The Benefit of the Commons
The article “Benefit of the Commons” generates an interesting perspective on how resources or “commons” can be managed to better suit the people that utilize them. This article was written in order to dispute a preconceived notion described in, “The Tragedy of the Commons” by Garret Hardin that humans are confined to a system that provokes resource consumption without limits. The authors suggest that “local-level management” can help solve the problems surrounding resource management.
The authors support this argument by offering three compelling case studies of local-level resource management that have helped to prevent over-hunting and over-fishing. Also, the authors provide a case study that shows the potential negative consequences of privatization in forestry as it prevents those that depend upon these resources in playing a role in defending them. These case studies are vital to the strength of the article as they display the effective way that communities can work together to provide their common property with the support needed to gain subsistence at a manageable rate. Ultimately, Berkes suggests that community regulated systems are more effective than privatization as they allow those with a more personal investment in the resources to play an integral role in the development and management of those resources.
I believe that this article pertains to the development of my portfolio, as I am interested to learn more about how different societies and cultures manage their resources in the short term and long term. I am interested to discover more cases by which privatization and common property systems have failed and flourished.