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When Ostrom Meets Blockchain: Exploring the Potentials of Blockchain for Commons Governance

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  • David Rozas
  • Antonio Tenorio-Fornés
  • Silvia Díaz-Molina
  • Samer Hassan

Abstract

Blockchain technologies have generated enthusiasm, yet their potential to enable new forms of governance remains largely unexplored. Two confronting standpoints dominate the emergent debate around blockchain-based governance: discourses characterized by the presence of techno-determinist and market-driven values, which tend to ignore the complexity of social organization; and critical accounts of such discourses which, while contributing to identifying limitations, consider the role of traditional centralized institutions as inherently necessary to enable democratic forms of governance. In this article, we draw on Ostrom’s principles for self-governance of communities to explore the transformative potential of blockchain beyond such standpoints. We approach blockchain through the identification and conceptualization of six affordances that this technology may provide to communities: tokenization, self-enforcement and formalization of rules, autonomous automatization, decentralization of power over the infrastructure, increasing transparency, and codification of trust. For each affordance, we carry out a detailed analysis situating each in the context of Ostrom’s principles, considering both the potentials of algorithmic governance and the importance of incorporating communities’ social practices into blockchain-based tools to foster forms of self-governance. The relationships found between these affordances and Ostrom’s principles allow us to provide a perspective focused on blockchain-based commons governance.

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  • David Rozas & Antonio Tenorio-Fornés & Silvia Díaz-Molina & Samer Hassan, 2021. "When Ostrom Meets Blockchain: Exploring the Potentials of Blockchain for Commons Governance," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(1), pages 21582440211, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:11:y:2021:i:1:p:21582440211002526
    DOI: 10.1177/21582440211002526
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    Cited by:

    1. Geetika Jain & Archana Shrivastava & Justin Paul & Ronak Batra, 2022. "Blockchain for SME Clusters: An Ideation using the Framework of Ostrom Commons Governance," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 1125-1143, August.
    2. Cristina Viano & Sowelu Avanzo & Monica Cerutti & Alex Cordero & Claudio Schifanella & Guido Boella, 2022. "Blockchain tools for socio-economic interactions in local communities [Blockchain-based smart contracts: A systematic mapping study]," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 41(3), pages 373-385.
    3. Amina Rizwan & Faisal Mustafa, 2022. "Fintech Attaining Sustainable Development: An Investor Perspective of Crowdfunding Platforms in a Developing Country," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-17, June.
    4. Alawadi, Asma & Kakabadse, Nada & Kakabadse, Andrew & Zuckerbraun, Sam, 2024. "Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs): Stewardship talks but agency walks," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    5. Santana, Carlos & Albareda, Laura, 2022. "Blockchain and the emergence of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs): An integrative model and research agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    6. Karl Oton Rudolf & Samer Ajour El Zein & Nicola Jackman Lansdowne, 2021. "Bitcoin as an Investment and Hedge Alternative. A DCC MGARCH Model Analysis," Risks, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-22, August.
    7. Silvia Semenzin & David Rozas & Samer Hassan, 2022. "Blockchain-based application at a governmental level: disruption or illusion? The case of Estonia [A systematic analysis of applications of blockchain in healthcare]," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 41(3), pages 386-401.

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