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Helpful prior knowledge and learning objectives
Helpful prior knowledge and learning objectives
Helpful prior learning:
Section 1.1.1 The economy and you, which explains what an economy is and how it is relevant to students’ lives
Section 1.1.2 The embedded economy, which explains the relationship between the economy and society and Earth’s systems
Section 1.3.6 Households, markets, state and commons, which explains four provisioning institutions in the economy and their interconnection
Section 1.3.7 Care in the economy, which explains the importance of care in the economy, the types of care, and why care is undervalued
Section 2.1.1 The household as a system, which describes households, the basic relationships of household members, and the connection between the household and the rest of the economy.
Section S.1 What are systems?, which explains what a system is, the importance of systems boundaries, the difference between open and closed systems and the importance of systems thinking
Section S.2 Systems thinking patterns, which outlines the core components of systems thinking: distinctions (thing/other), systems (part/whole), relationships (action/reaction), and perspectives (point/view)
Learning objectives:
outline similarities and differences between households and commons
discuss the relationships between households and commons
The small Kenyan community of Kinango (Figure 1), near Mombasa, has recently revived an ancient system of rotational mutual service called Mwerya. This tradition involves community members supporting each other with essential activities like farming, tree planting, and house construction (Figure 2). This reciprocity fosters a strong sense of unity and cooperation.
Figure 1. Kinango, Kenya (Credit: Google Maps)
Figure 2. Community members in Kinango, Kenya supporting each other through a system of rotational mutual service called Mwerya
(Credit: Grassroots Economics, used with permission)
Mwerya was once central to Kinango’s culture, but was replaced by use of the national currency, the Kenyan shilling, for buying goods and services in markets. This shift weakened household resilience. When there is an economic downturn and people lose their jobs, Kenyan shillings are scarce. Reviving Mwerya improves the ability of the people in Kinango to meet each others’ needs because it doesn't rely on the national currency.
Mwerya also strengthens social cohesion because people share expertise and labour to support each other. It preserves Kinango’s culture by engaging the younger generation in reciprocity. The short video below explains how Mwerya supports households through this commitment pooling.
What are the commons and how do they differ from households?
What are the commons and how do they differ from households?
The commons is a provisioning institution where the shared resources of a group are used and managed through self-organising, largely (though often not entirely) outside of markets and the state. For example, villagers might organise to sustainably manage a shared water well or forest wood resources.
Commons resources come in many forms, including shared natural and labour resources, cultural resources like language and rituals, and digital resources like Wikipedia and even this Regenerative Economics book. Commoners collaborate to produce and fairly distribute things like crops, software code, and creative works. This collaboration is known as commoning.
The household is a group of people who live together in a shared space, or dwelling, and who have a strong personal responsibility to work together to meet each others’ needs.
Figure 3. Olla Común in Peru provide food for those in need, providing an alternative for households during shocks
(Credit: Banco Mundial América Latina y el Caribe, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Households and commons are overlapping institutions. They are systems of people with particular relationships, with a similar function: to self-organise to meet their members’ needs fairly and inclusively. In both households and commons, the relationships between people vary depending on different cultural, historical, legal, income, power and technological contexts.
Despite their similarities, households and commons are managed differently (Figure 4). Households often have fixed roles and responsibilities, with some members having authority and control, such as parents over children. This is common in kinship-based households, but less so in households with other relationships, like university students living together.
Figure 4. Households and commons have similarities and differences
How are households and the commons interconnected?
How are households and the commons interconnected?
Beyond the similarities and differences between households and commons, households and commons are dependent on each other.
Commons support households through:
sharing resources: sharing resources like land, food, equipment, water, and energy can lower resource use, waste and cost of living, making households more efficient and sustainable.
providing for essential human needs, independently of the state or market: commoning can meet people’s essential needs, maintaining support even when markets or the state fail. It can also build redundancy into economies by offering alternative sources of food, care, and shelter when people need it. This can reduce the impact of economic, social, or ecological shocks, for example, when communal kitchens provided food for people displaced by wildfires in Chile in 2024.
strengthening social networks: commoning supports a sense of community and belonging. It builds relationships and mutual support, creating resilient societies.
improving gender equality and female empowerment: women, often responsible for household care, depend on commons for resources like water, firewood, food, and elder- or childcare. Effective commoning can reduce the time spent on care and domestic work, freeing up time for education, employment, and social networks. This can increase women’s intrahousehold bargaining power (Section 2.3.1) and shift social norms, but it is important to note that this doesn’t always occur.
Figure 6. Woman are often most responsible for household domestic work, so they regularly engage with the commons
(Credit: Ganta Srinivas CC0)
This collaboration can be seen in traditional water-sharing practices in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Communities often work together to manage scarce water resources. Their priority is to protect the body of water, especially by setting limits on use, while ensuring every household’s needs are met. Given women's current significant care roles, it is crucial to include them in commoning decision-making processes.
In turn, the health of the commons depends on the care provided by people in households. Together, households manage and regenerate forests, farmland, bodies of water, and other shared forms of wealth. They participate in community decisions, maintaining and protecting the commons.
Figure 7. The UN SDG5: Gender equality and and UN SDG6: Clean water and sanitation are deeply intertwined (Credit: United Nations SDGs)
Supporting the relationships between households and the commons is crucial for meeting human needs within planetary boundaries. These overlapping, sometimes redundant, networks of human relationships ensure that people continue to meet their own and others’ needs even if there are disruptions to markets and the state. So we must strengthen both households and commons to create greater economic diversity, much like ecosystems are stronger when they are biodiverse (Section 1.2.5).
Activity 2.2.2
Activity 2.2.2
Concept: Systems
Skills: Reflection
Time: 25 minutes
Type: Individual, pairs and/or group
Most of us engage with commons at some point in the economy.
Identify possible commons in your community.
Where or how are members of your household engaging with the commons?
If you do not think the members of your household are commoning, why might that be?
You may want to think about these questions individually, and then discuss your ideas with a partner, small group or with the whole class.
Ideas for longer activities and projects are listed in Subtopic 2.5 Taking Action
Checking for understanding
Checking for understanding
Further exploration
Further exploration
Documentary on Will Ruddick and Kenyan Community Currencies - a 25-minute documentary about the development of community currencies in Kenya, based on indigenous practices of reciprocity. Difficulty level: medium
How to form a babysitting coop - An overview of how to set up a group to share childcare responsibilities without exchange of money. Caring for children using commoning can help shift some care from markets, benefiting families financially and helping to build more resilient households and communities. Difficulty level: easy
Sources
Sources
Bollier. D. (2021). Commoners Catalog For Changemaking: Tools for the Transitions. White River Junction: Chelsea Green Publishing. https://commonerscatalog.org/
Bollier, D. and Helfrich, S. (2019). Free, Fair and Alive: The Insurgent Power of the Commons. Gabriola Island: New Society Publishers.
Chibwara, W. (2023, July 31). The Mwerya Tradition Returns to Kinango. Grassroots Economics. https://www.grassrootseconomics.org/mwerya-jubilee
Ruddick, W. (2024, February 19). Commitment Pooling. Grassroots Economics. https://grassecon.org/commitment-pooling
Tronto, J. C. (2013). Caring democracy: Markets, equality, and justice. New York University Press.
Terminology (in order of appearance)
Terminology (in order of appearance)
rotational mutual service: community members support each other to meet their needs, based on reciprocity
reciprocity: exchanging things and favours with others for mutual benefit
culture: the beliefs, values, attitudes, behaviours and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next
currency: a system of money in general use in an area
market: a system where people buy and sell goods and services for a price.
household: a system where people living together care for each other and do domestic work, often termed the 'core economy'
resilient: able to recover after a disturbance
economy: all the human-made systems that transfer and transform energy and matter to meet human needs and wants
scarcity: when there is not enough of something
social cohesion: the extent to which people in society feel connected to one another and share common values
labour: work to achieve some goal
commitment pooling: where a group of people gather together time and labour commitments to the community, and can then draw on that pool of time and labour when they need it
commons: a system where people self-organise to co-produce and manage shared resources.
provisioning institution: a group of people and their relationships as they try to meet human needs and wants
sustainability: meeting people’s needs within the means of the planet
dwelling: a physical space where people live
system: a set of interdependent parts that organise to create a functional whole
income: money received from work or investments
power: the ability to influence events or the behaviour of other people
kinship: to be related by blood, marriage, adoption, civil recognition, or other long-term commitment
energy: the ability to do work or cause change
waste: unwanted or unusable materials
efficient: when there is a low ratio of resource inputs compared to outputs
redundant: something that is repetitive, not necessary under normal circumstances, but useful in unusual circumstances
economy: all the human-made systems that transfer and transform energy and matter to meet human needs and wants
care: the act of providing what is necessary for the health, welfare, upkeep, and protection of someone or something
gender equality: when people of different genders are treated equally
empowerment: the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one's life and claiming one's rights
intrahousehold bargaining power: the power that individual people have in a household members to negotiate resources, responsibilities, and decisions.
norm: a social rule for accepted and expected behaviour, can be stated or unstated
regenerate: the process of restoring and revitalising something
wealth: the total value (stock) of someone’s assets such as money, house, or investments
planetary boundaries: the limits of Earth systems to absorb the impact of human activity and continue to function
ecosystem: the interaction of groups of organisms with each other and their physical environment
biodiversity: the variety of living organisms on Earth
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