Race, Property and the Commons

Is a forest Private Property? Or is it a Commons? How about Water? Or the Internet? Can a human person be the private property of another human? It was once so in the US, and is still happening in places around the globe. Women and children are especially vulnerable and poverty is a major factor. Today, a small minority of humans claim rights to most of the planet’s wealth. Things that were once clearly commons or shared things are fast being turned into property and privatized. Who decides what is private property and what is not? The answer to this question holds the key to saving life as we know it: our planet’s ecology, our human culture, and the hope of true social justice and democracy.

Our workshop will connect issues of Race, Property, and the Commons. We envision a lively, participatory conversation with on-your-feet activities, deep inquiry into root causes, with plenty of time to explore strategy. Using a variety of presentation styles, this is a workshop that is interesting and accessible to all levels without any dilution of serious content.

As activists, we can benefit by spending some time looking at the systemic root problems to help us devise genuine lasting solutions for all the issues we are passionate about. We plan this as a big picture workshop where we can question the deepest assumptions of law and culture and illuminate how all our issues are interconnected.

Karen Coulter of the Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy, Matt Nelson of the Freedom Now! Coalition and the Milwaukee Police Accountability Coalition, and Jan Edwards of The Alliance for Democracy, approach the issues from complimentary perspectives. Karen will examine the history of property and commons law and how the continuing enclosure of the commons by corporate and other private entities has threatened human and other species on the planet. Matt will discuss the ways that race and class have been used to create today’s property rule. He will explore the 14th amendment and ask the question “How can you have an anti-racist law operating in a racist society?” Jan plans to use interactive tools and games to explore the interconnectedness of the commons both natural and cultural, and helps us think through the difficult concepts of private property and commons. All three will connect the issues to show ways to: protect the commons using legal rights, stop nature and culture from being turned into property, and pass this common wealth down undiminished to the next generations of all the creatures of the planet. They will also discuss how the commons concepts can be used to promote social justice and equality.

The Rule of Property, by Karen Coulter. A POCLAD book. 2007.
http://cipa-apex.org/books/rule_of_property/
Karen Coulter offers a groundbreaking new perspective on the rise of private property over the public domain by linking two popular streams of thought: the legal history of the rise of corporate power developed by POCLAD (Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy) together with the new thinking about corporate encroachment on the ecological and social commons. Coulter, a member of POCLAD, is also a forest activist who watchdogs public lands against corporate theft.

If you would like to see some of the materials for the
Tapestry of the Commons by Jan Edwards: www.TapestryoftheCommons.org
Jan Edwards gives workshops on democracy, environmental and personhood issues. She will be presenting "Ending Corporate Personhood" on Friday afternoon at the USSF with attorney David Cobb.