Event overview
This evening will see the launch of Derek Wall's book on the work of Elinor Ostrom. Elinor Ostrom'a Nobel Prize-winning book on the common pool of property rights has implications for some of the most pressing sustainability issues of the twenty-first century- from tackling climate change to maintaining cyberspace. In this book, Derek Wall critically examines Ostrom's work, while also exploring the following questions: is it possible to combine insights rooted in methodological individualism with a theory that stresses collectivist solutions? Is Ostrom's emphasis on largely local solutions to climate change relevant to a crisis propelled by global factors?
The volume launched tonight situates her ideas in the constitutional analysis of her partner Vincent Ostrom and wider institutional economics. It outlines her key concerns, including a radical research methodology, commitment to indigenous people and the concept of social-ecological systems. Ostrom is recognised for producing a body of work which demonstrates how people can construct rules that allow them to exploit the environment in a ecologically sustainable way, without the need for governmental regulation, and this book argues that in a world where ecological realities increasingly threaten material prosperity, such scholarship provides a way of thinking about how humanity can create truly sustainable development.
Dr Derek Wall is an Associate Lecturer in the Department of Politics, Goldsmiths College, University of London. He has written ten books on green politics and radical political economy. His most recent titles are 'The Sustainable Economics of Elinor Ostrom' (Routledge, 2014) and the 'Commons in History' (MIT Press, 2014). He is currently writing 'Economics after Capitalism: A Guide to the Ruins and a Road to the Future (Pluto, 2015). He is currently International Secretary of the Green Party of England and Wales and former Principal Speaker of the Green Party. He is a columnist for the 'Morning Star' newspaper.
Dr Paul Gunn of the Department of Politics will be the discussant.
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Mar 2014 | 5:00pm - 7:00pm |
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