Die Neufassung der Commons: Commoning als gemeinwohlorientiertes Gemeinwirtschaften

In this paper we present commons and the corresponding social practices (commoning) as forms of economic activity that have been increasingly suppressed and rendered largely invisible in public debates over the past centuries. Notwithstanding, they have remained relevant worldwide. Since the 1990s, the topic has received increased attention. We retrace some of the paths of this rediscovery and present different theoretical approaches - beginning with biologist Garrett Hardin's thesis of the so called ‘Tragedy of the Commons’ and political scientist Elinor Ostrom's response to Hardin. Building on this, aspects of a paradigm shift in commons discourses and the transformative power of commoning at scale gain importance. Overall, it becomes clear that commoning is a welfare oriented social economic practice that not only changes economic activity and social coexistence, but also strengthens the cooperative precautionary and caring sides in human beings.