The commons as unifying political vision

The crisis of the European Union begs for new, unifying and constructive narratives – alternatives to the right-wing populist and nationalist wave that is getting fiercer every day. A ‘commons’ approach holds the potential for a unified vision towards an alternative economy, a Europe from the bottom-up, and an ecological economy and way of life. The idea of jointly stewarding shared resources, community, and a generative economy can find resonance with a diverse range of citizens. Major fault lines are starting to appear in the dominant world-view based on individualism, private ownership and an extractive relationship with nature. Although this view is still pervasive in economics, politics and law, a novel outlook based on networks, access and sustainability is emerging (Capra&Mattei, 2015). The online environment, where knowledge is shared and co-produced on a large scale, has made a huge contribution to this shift in perspective (Benkler, 2006). The predominant discourses that permeate political discussions at the European Union level are, however, those of economic growth, competitiveness and efficiency – considerations that tend to trump everything else. The lion’s share of the European Union’s policy focuses on macro-economic indicators and the promotion of large commercial interests. Citizens are often viewed simply as entrepreneurs or consumers. This dominant outlook follows the logic of the ‘homo economicus’, the fictional abstract individual of standard economics, who maximises his personal material gain through rational calculation. The underlying Cartesian subject-object dualism, in which mind is divorced from nature, leads to the perception that the world is there for humans to dominate