Ending The Tragedy of The Commons | Elinor Ostrom | Big Think
Summary
TLDRThe script discusses Garrett Hardin's 'Tragedy of the Commons' theory, highlighting how overuse of shared resources can lead to their depletion. It emphasizes the importance of community-driven solutions and polycentric governance to manage complex environmental challenges like greenhouse gas emissions. The case of the Masai in East Africa illustrates how traditional grazing practices were disrupted by colonial and government interventions, leading to the need for local and regional organizing to sustainably manage resources.
Takeaways
- π Garrett Hardin's 'Tragedy of the Commons' concept is discussed, highlighting the potential overuse of shared resources without regulation.
- π The script suggests that communities have often found ways to self-regulate and avoid overuse of common resources, despite the theoretical trap.
- π The importance of polycentric governance is emphasized, allowing for multiple levels of government and community organizations to interact and solve problems.
- π³ The complexity of solutions to complex societal problems is acknowledged, with a warning against seeking overly simplistic answers.
- π The script touches on the global and local effects of greenhouse gas emissions, advocating for local and regional organizing to enhance positive global externalities.
- π The policies in Eastern Africa, particularly regarding the Masai's grazing lands, are critiqued for disrupting traditional and sustainable practices.
- π The Masai's centuries-old grazing methods are described as effective for maintaining rangeland health in areas with limited and unpredictable rainfall.
- ποΈ The British colonial and subsequent Kenyan government actions are criticized for fragmenting the Masai's grazing lands and disrupting their traditional systems.
- ποΈ The creation of group ranches and the privatization efforts by the Masai are mentioned as attempts to regain control and prevent further land dispossession.
- π The Masai are adapting by recreating traditional cattle movement patterns, as studied by Esther Mwangi, to cope with environmental challenges.
- π± The script implies that local knowledge and adaptive management are crucial for sustainable use of resources in challenging environments.
Q & A
Who is the author of the 1968 article that discussed the concept of the 'Tragedy of the Commons'?
-Garrett Hardin is the author of the 1968 article that introduced the concept of the 'Tragedy of the Commons'.
What is the 'Tragedy of the Commons' scenario described in the article?
-The 'Tragedy of the Commons' scenario describes a situation where individuals, acting independently according to their own self-interest, behave contrary to the common good of all by depleting some shared resource, such as a pasture, through overuse.
What does the script suggest about the ability of people to self-regulate and find solutions to the 'Tragedy of the Commons'?
-The script suggests that in many instances, people have found ways to agree on their own rules and extract themselves from the problem of overusing common resources.
What is 'polycentricity' as mentioned in the script?
-Polycentricity refers to a system where multiple centers of decision-making operate, allowing for interaction between markets, governments, and community organizations at various scales, creating a complex nested system.
How does the script relate polycentricity to the issue of global warming and greenhouse gas emissions?
-The script relates polycentricity to global warming by suggesting that while greenhouse gas emissions have a global effect, they also have local and regional effects, and thus require a polycentric approach to enhance local and regional organization for positive global externalities.
What historical example is provided in the script regarding the management of pasture land in Eastern Africa?
-The script provides the historical example of the Masai people in Eastern Africa, who had a sustainable grazing system over a great distance in an area with limited and spotty rainfall.
What changes were made to the Masai's grazing lands by the British colonial farmers and the Kenyan government?
-The British colonial farmers and the Kenyan government gave away large segments of the Masai's grazing lands to colonial farmers and created group ranches, which were not large enough to maintain the traditional grazing system.
How have the Masai responded to the changes in land management and the creation of group ranches?
-The Masai have responded by privatizing their land to prevent it from being given away again by the government and by working out arrangements for family and friends to share land, thus recreating the movement of cattle.
Who is Esther Mwangi and what has she contributed to the understanding of the Masai's land management practices?
-Esther Mwangi is a researcher who has studied the Masai's land management practices over time, contributing to the understanding of how local people cope with challenging environmental conditions.
What is the script's view on the necessity of local and regional solutions in addition to global ones for complex problems like environmental degradation?
-The script emphasizes the necessity of local and regional solutions in addition to global ones, stating that waiting for only large-scale decisions can lead to trouble and that local solutions can help address complex problems more effectively.
Why does the script argue against seeking simple solutions to complex societal problems?
-The script argues against simple solutions because society is complex, and complex problems require nuanced approaches that can be provided by polycentric systems.
Outlines
π³ The Tragedy of the Commons and Societal Solutions
This paragraph discusses the concept of the 'Tragedy of the Commons' introduced by Garret Hardin in 1968. It describes a hypothetical scenario where a pasture is open to all, leading to overuse and depletion of resources. Hardin's theory suggests that individuals are trapped in this cycle and cannot escape it on their own. However, subsequent theoretical and empirical research has shown that people can devise their own rules to manage common resources effectively. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of polycentric governance, which involves multiple levels of government and community organizations working together to address complex societal issues. It also touches on the need for local and regional solutions to global problems, such as greenhouse gas emissions, which have both global and local impacts.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Garret Hardin
π‘Tragedy of the Commons
π‘Polis Centricity
π‘Externalities
π‘Masai
π‘Pastoralism
π‘Land Privatization
π‘Group Ranches
π‘Rangeland
π‘Ester Magni
π‘Sustainability
Highlights
Garret Hardin's 1968 article in Science imagined a pasture open to all, leading to overuse of the Commons.
People have found ways to agree on rules and extract themselves from the Commons problem in many instances.
The concept of polycentricity enables market, government, and community organizations at multiple scales to interact.
Society is complex, and simple solutions to complex problems are not a good idea.
Theoretical work on polycentricity is relevant for addressing global greenhouse gas emissions with local and regional effects.
Enhancing local and regional organization can produce more positive global externalities.
Waiting for big decisions from the entire planet can lead to deep trouble in environmental issues.
The Maasai in East Africa had a sustainable grazing system over a large area with limited rainfall.
Overgrazing and allowing bushes to grow can ruin the functioning of the rangeland.
The British colonial government disrupted the Maasai's grazing system by giving away land to farmers.
The Kenyan government continued to give away Maasai land, leading to the creation of group ranches.
Group ranches were not large enough to maintain the Maasai's traditional grazing system.
The Maasai are privatizing their land to prevent further government giveaways and are working out sharing arrangements.
Local people like the Maasai may find ways to cope with challenging environmental conditions.
Esther Mangini has studied the Maasai's land and grazing practices over time.
Transcripts
well Manzarek no sorry not Mansur he
came later Garret Hardin wrote a very
stirring article in 1968 published in
science and he imagined a pasture open
to all and posited that if that were the
case then everyone would bring their
animals on and they would keep bringing
more and more and more and they would
eventually overuse the Commons what he
went on to say was that that they were
trapped and could not themselves get out
of it and what our theory theoretical
work and empirical work has shown is
that in many instances but not all
people have found ways of agreeing on
their own rules and extracting
themselves from the problem
this concept of pol centricity of
enabling both market and government
governments at multiple scales to
interact with community organization so
that we have a complex nested system and
it ain't pretty in the sense that it's
nice and neat and many people have tried
to get rid of creative solutions that
are complex but society is complex P for
complex and for us to have simple
solutions to complex problems not a good
idea
if the community at play were only the
entire planet and we simply wait until
so big guys make a decision we're in
deep trouble our theoretical work on
Paulo centricity here is very relevant
in that while in any greenhouse gas
emission does have a global effect it
may also have and usually does local and
regional effects so we need to be
thinking about how to enhance the ways
of organizing around the local and
regional so as to produce more
externalities that are positive at the
global
well a great number of the policies laid
down let's take the policies for eastern
Africa related to the pasture area that
the Masai occupied the Masai had been
there for centuries and had figured out
a way of grazing over a great distance
so that in an area where the rainfall
was limited and spotty they were able to
maintain that rangeland in a very good
form they didn't look pretty as that's
the way it was but if you if you graze
down too far and then you let some other
things come up and don't graze in an
area and you get big bushes then you end
up with ruining the functioning of it
well when the brits came in they gave
half of it well shouldn't that not have
they gave a very large segment away to
colonial farmers and to set up a big
reserve the Kenyan government in the
1950s onward kept giving away giving
away giving away they finally created
group ranches but the group ranches
weren't large enough to really enable
them to maintain the kind of system that
worked they then have been privatizing
themselves the the Maasai their land so
it would not be given away again by the
government and working out arrangements
so that family and friends can share and
they're recreating the movement of the
cattle around and Esther Magni has done
a wonderful job of studying this over
time and they may the local people may
again find a way of coping with a very
difficult and challenging environment
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