A Smart Way to Protect Our Everyday Lives: “The Commons”

 During my time covering the field as a journalist, I once learned about a unique social characteristic of South Korea’s Jeju Island. Jeju is one of the regions in the country with the richest body of research and real-world cases regarding “the commons.” While the commons in many other regions often exist primarily as intangible relationships or cultural practices, in Jeju, they frequently take tangible forms—such as village community pastures or communal forests—registered as official assets of the village or community and actively managed in practice.

 

When I first encountered the term “the commons,” its meaning did not immediately resonate with me. Simply knowing its dictionary definitions, such as “shared assets” or “common resources,” made it difficult to grasp the dynamic reality on the ground. However, through repeated reporting and study as a journalist in the social impact sector, I came to realize how crucial the commons are for safeguarding our daily lives in an era of uncertainty. Today, I want to write about “the commons”—not merely as a concept of shared resources or joint ownership, but from the perspective of a living system in which citizens directly manage and govern common resources together.

 

The Commons Are Neither Grand nor Extraordinary

 

In modern society, we are accustomed to dividing all resources into two broad categories: “private property (the market),” which individuals pay for and own, and “public goods (the state),” which the government operates using tax revenues. Yet market logic alone fails to prevent skyrocketing housing costs or gaps in care, and state administration alone cannot meet all the granular needs of neighborhoods and local communities, leaving ever-widening blind spots. Emerging as a third alternative to break through these limitations is the concept of the commons.

 

That said, we do not need to view the commons as a grand or complicated academic discourse. A neighborhood garden where residents till the soil and tend plants together, a small community library operated on a rotating shift by local residents, forests or farmlands managed collectively, and local natural resources can all be seen as the commons. In other words, the commons are not a distant utopia; they are constantly breathing within our ordinary daily lives.

 

What Are the Commons?

 

The commons do not simply refer to a state where resources are jointly owned or shared free of charge. Rather, they represent a mode of governance in which people collectively care for shared resources, establish rules of use themselves, and cultivate mutual trust and responsibility within the community through that process.

 

Accordingly, the commons are neither neglected empty spaces without an owner nor resources open to free-riding. They are an organically integrated system composed of the following three elements:

 

👉Shared Resources (Resource): Assets that multiple people can utilize and preserve together. This includes not only natural resources, but also shared physical spaces, knowledge, culture, and digital data.

👉Community: The group of people who actually use and responsibly care for those resources together.

👉Self-Made Governance: The rules agreed upon directly by the members regarding who can use the resources, how they will be maintained and managed, and how responsibility will be borne when conflicts arise.

 

The Connection Between the Commons and the Social Solidarity Economy

 

The essence of the social solidarity economy likewise aligns with the process of cultivating “commons that are shared and nurtured together by citizens rather than monopolized by a select few.” In this sense, the commons share deep common ground with the social solidarity economy and social impact.

 

While the commons and the social solidarity economy are not entirely identical concepts, the two domains are closely linked through core values:

 

 Collective resource management ↔ Joint ownership and operation of cooperatives

 Participation and democratic decision-making ↔ Democratic governance by cooperative members and stakeholders

 Meeting the tangible needs of the community ↔ Community-based social enterprises and grassroots resident organizations

 Pursuing resource sustainability ↔ Local circular economies and social value creation

 Shared responsibility and solidarity ↔ Cooperation and mutual aid among members

 

Here, there is one critical point that must be noted: not every social solidarity economy organization (such as cooperatives, social enterprises, community businesses, self-sufficiency enterprises, or social ventures) automatically constitutes a commons. Even if an entity takes the legal form of a social enterprise, it can hardly be called a commons if it is operated in a closed, top-down manner. However, by placing community needs at the center and practicing voluntary member participation alongside democratic governance, social solidarity economy organizations can serve as sturdy vessels that bring the principles of the commons to life in the most practical way.

 

In an Era of Insecure Ownership, the Commons Become a Safety Net

 

The era in which “owning more on my own” could 100% guarantee my future and security is drawing to a close. In the face of massive waves such as the climate crisis, rapid population aging, and regional depopulation, a “foundation of sharing”—where people rely on one another and manage resources together—serves as a far stronger breakwater than individual assets ever could.

 

The commons do not begin in grand theoretical treatises. They start with a small neighborhood library whose lights I keep on alongside my neighbors today, a community garden tended together, and the small rules we decide upon through face-to-face discussion. Only through practices that go beyond merely consuming and dividing resources—to caring together, setting rules, and sharing responsibility—do the commons truly come alive.

 

When the sturdy axle of “the commons” is established between the two massive wheels of the state and the market, our everyday lives and the social solidarity economy can finally take firm, unshakable root. Ultimately, the commons go beyond the question of how much of a resource we own; they offer the wisest answer to how we should govern this society we live in together.