The purpose of studying jointly Commons and Cultivation is per se a challenging goal and it poses the necessity of dealing with different themes that appear to be close even though their vicinity is blurred by a certain ambiguity. This appears to be intrinsic, and not only because very diverse academic disciplines, based on different methodolo- gies, are involved. Both the terms have a practical use, namely in real life, but both of them open problems of theoretical interpretations and do strongly challenge scholars to distinguish the concept of complexity from that of complicatedness, especially when re- ferring to social and even natural systems. In a complicated system, individual elements can be isolated and studied as such, not finding any relational link among each other. In a complex system, the elements are more or less interrelated, and the core problem is properly that a singular element is intimately relational, and should be correctly studied considering this characteristic. In living and social systems, complexity does increase over time, yet not being fixed. It is also very clear that complexity and culture face reciprocally in a complex manner. In cultivating a commons, humans often produce a complex system of relations, involving private and public decisions, even up to originat- ing the discussion about power and democracy.

Cultivating our commons, melding two complex ideas, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY , Special Issue, Vol. 33 - n. 3-4 - 2018.

CORINTO G. L.
2018-01-01

Abstract

The purpose of studying jointly Commons and Cultivation is per se a challenging goal and it poses the necessity of dealing with different themes that appear to be close even though their vicinity is blurred by a certain ambiguity. This appears to be intrinsic, and not only because very diverse academic disciplines, based on different methodolo- gies, are involved. Both the terms have a practical use, namely in real life, but both of them open problems of theoretical interpretations and do strongly challenge scholars to distinguish the concept of complexity from that of complicatedness, especially when re- ferring to social and even natural systems. In a complicated system, individual elements can be isolated and studied as such, not finding any relational link among each other. In a complex system, the elements are more or less interrelated, and the core problem is properly that a singular element is intimately relational, and should be correctly studied considering this characteristic. In living and social systems, complexity does increase over time, yet not being fixed. It is also very clear that complexity and culture face reciprocally in a complex manner. In cultivating a commons, humans often produce a complex system of relations, involving private and public decisions, even up to originat- ing the discussion about power and democracy.
2018
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11393/248264
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