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Avoiding tragedies: a Flemish common and its commoners under the pressure of social and economic change during the eighteenth century 1
Author(s) -
DE MOOR TINE
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the economic history review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.014
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1468-0289
pISSN - 0013-0117
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0289.2008.00426.x
Subject(s) - commons , tragedy of the commons , flemish , metaphor , bookkeeping , sustainability , common pool resource , positive economics , order (exchange) , sociology , epistemology , history , political science , law , economics , philosophy , linguistics , archaeology , accounting , microeconomics , ecology , biology , finance
Despite the wide application of the metaphor of ‘the tragedy of the commons’, there is little historical literature that points to the weaknesses of its historical basis. There is, however, sufficient qualitative and quantitative evidence to prove that commons were well regulated and organized in order to achieve a sustainable management, that also took into account the needs and wishes of its commoners. This case study of a common in Flanders looks at the evidence for this in the eighteenth century, examining bookkeeping and other archival sources. A model that incorporates the different functions of the commons (sustainability, efficiency, and utility) is explained and applied.