Reclaiming the Commons for the Common Good

Publisher	New Society Publishers
Publication Year	2014
Author(s)	Heather Menzies

ISBN: 9780865717589

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Reclaiming the Commons for the Common Good

Name: Reclaiming the Commons for the Common Good
SKU: 9780865717589
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A Memoir & Manifesto

Commoning was a way of life for most of our ancestors. In Reclaiming the Commons for the Common Good, author Heather Menzies journeys to her roots in the Scottish Highlands, where her family lived in direct relation with the land since before recorded time.

Beginning with an intimate account of unearthing the heritage of the commons and the real tragedy of its loss, Menzies offers a detailed description of the self-organizing, self-governing and self-informing principles of this nearly forgotten way of life, including its spiritual practices and traditions. She then identifies pivotal commons practices that could be usefully revived today. A final ‘manifesto’ section pulls these facets together into a unified vision for reclaiming the commons, drawing a number of current popular initiatives into the commons and commoning frame-such as local food security, permaculture and the Occupy Movement.

An engaging memoir of personal and political discovery, Reclaiming the Commons for the Common Good combines moving reflections on our common heritage with a contemporary call to action, individually and collectively, locally and globally. Readers will be inspired by the book’s vision of reviving the commons ethos of empathy and mutual respect, and energized by her practical suggestions for connecting people and place for the common good.

Contributors

Heather Menzies

Heather Menzies is an award-winning writer and scholar and the author of nine books, including Whose Brave New World? and No Time. She has been awarded an honourary doctorate and the Order of Canada for her "contributions to public discourse." A mother and grandmother, a gardener and social-justice activist, Heather regularly contributes to journals and newspapers, and is in high demand as a speaker, offering a thoughtful critique of our disintegrating social fabric.

Chapter	Contributors	Pages	Year	Price
Introduction This chapter examines the author’s search for their roots in Scotland and how that search helped her connect with the First Nations struggle in North America. View	Heather Menzies	7	2014	$0.70
At an Impasse This chapter covers the author’s struggle of feeling lost and directionless, trying to find meaning and focus in searching for answers. It also talks about her decision to search for her … View	Heather Menzies	4	2014	$0.40
Crossing a Threshold The author’s trip to Scotland, to her family’s ancestral roots in Tulliro. View	Heather Menzies	4	2014	$0.40
To the Shieling The author researches her heritage, leading to understanding as she treads the paths of her ancestors. View	Heather Menzies	6	2014	$0.60
A Field in Good Heart Tending to the garden provides insight and new connections for the author. View	Heather Menzies	5	2014	$0.50
Duthchas and the Ethos of the Commons Explaining the ancient property laws of Scottish clans as they exised until the encroachment of kings. View	Heather Menzies	6	2014	$0.60
Coming Home to the Sacred Looking at the introduction of Christianity to the Picts in Scotland, comparing it to the ethos of Native American religions. View	Heather Menzies	11	2014	$1.10
The Tragedy of the Commons Revisted Exploring the dissolution of communal farms in Scotland and the pitfalls of rigid British feudal farmlands. View	Heather Menzies	8	2014	$0.80
Feudal Land Charters and Private Property The institution of feudal land, the concept of private property, and the disappearance of common land. View	Heather Menzies	4	2014	$0.40
The Real Tragedy of the Loss of the Commons The cost of the Scottish Clearances through forced emmigration and the abolition of Scottish commons. View	Heather Menzies	7	2014	$0.70
From Premodern Past to Digital Present The disappearance of commons across the globe pushes the author to act on her expriences in Scotland, throwing her support behind the Idle No More movement. View	Heather Menzies	9	2014	$0.90
Reclaiming the Commons on Gabriola Isand The Gabriola commons is a community and community centre that exists only through the collective actions of the people. A loss of capacity building and a lot of healing will be required if such a … View	Heather Menzies	10	2014	$1.00
Capacity Building #1 "The more I’m securely connected to myself. The more I can risk connecting with others, getting involved in the Gabriola Commons, committing to endless meetings of the Covenant Team. … View	Heather Menzies	6	2014	$0.60
Capacity Building #2 At its simplist, a commons is a habitat of interrelationships bound by mutuality: mutual obligation and mutual sef-interest and also, hopefully, affinity. View	Heather Menzies	8	2014	$0.80
Capacity Building #3 The essential thing in people, especially kids, becoming ecoliterate is creating opportunities for ongoing participation in particular local habitats. View	Heather Menzies	10	2014	$1.00
Capacity Building #4 The author suggests that learning and knowledge flow from attentive participation, with the senses wide open, and possibly the heart as well. View	Heather Menzies	8	2014	$0.80
Capacity Building #5 Staying implicated in the common good and the good of the commons and community is a big part of reclaiming the commons, though not all of it. View	Heather Menzies	12	2014	$1.20
Capacity Building #6 Patterning won’t emerge by just wishing or waiting for its emergence. It requires action, behaviour-changing, consciousness-changing action at every level from the personal to the … View	Heather Menzies	10	2014	$1.00
An Historical Frame for Current Activism If we want to come home to the Earth, reviving our sense of connection to it, we must first come home to ourselves, healing our relationship with ourselves, and those around us. View	Heather Menzies	9	2014	$0.90
Some Personal Acts of Reconnection Reclaiming the commons begins by claiming your place within it–and in the process, awakening to a different understanding of yourself, even a different understanding of what’s real … View	Heather Menzies	8	2014	$0.80
Gardening, Agroecology and Forming Relationships with the Land Alliances are being formed, facilitating scale-up. New food assembly and distribution hubs are being created for farmers producing on a larger scale but still using more responsible … View	Heather Menzies	10	2014	$1.00
An Economy of Fair Trade and Right Relations Common cause projects can at the same time tackle the global and local activist divide, bringing members of national and international groups together with local, grounded activists. View	Heather Menzies	14	2014	$1.40
Comon Knowledge and Knowledge Commons Claiming our agency as participants in situations, communities, and habitats who become responsibly knowledgeable about them is a huge first step towards reclaiming the commons. View	Heather Menzies	11	2014	$1.10
Re-enfranchising People as Commoners, Participants in Responsible Self-Governance The author suggests that restoring governance for a common good that includes the well-being of the whole planet will require revitalizing democracy at every level. View	Heather Menzies	12	2014	$1.20
The Commons as Culture, Community, and Creation Becoming attuned to others in the shared habitats of life on Earth: it’s that simple and that mysterious. View	Heather Menzies	8	2014	$0.80
Common-Good Governance Locally and Globally There is a wealth of precedent out there to inspire a commoning movement, though not necessarily yet as scaled up, more polycentric levels. View	Heather Menzies	12	2014	$1.20
Glossary View	Heather Menzies	4	2014	$0.40

Reclaiming the Commons for the Common Good

A Memoir & Manifesto

Contributors

Heather Menzies

Welcome