One Fella’s Take on the Commons
By Chad Fuller, CSFC Member-Owner | Posted 4/25/2019
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I have been lucky to be an observer and participant of the commons for almost all of my life.
My experience with commoning includes founding the Sudbury Valley School with others and studies in Community and Organization Development through a graduate-level training for the application of General Systems Theory: Organization and Community. This involved working with people in a non-classroom setting, designing the “bricks’n mortar” of a program, and managing operations, finances, and building tools.
My intentional community living includes Board membership with the Fellowship of Intentional Community, joining with All Things Local soon after it. I currently work with Amherst Community Land Trust, Valley Community Land Trust (the first Community Land Trust in MA), and Northampton & Amherst Neighbors. Amherst Neighbors is an exciting support system development for seniors in their own neighborhoods. I welcome to contact for this latter effort (contact info below).
Below are some references I’ve stumbled upon for all of our use.
The Common movement has a long history – even pre-industrial (when the 1% began it’s ‘scoop-up’ of wealth) and one I have followed lifelong – starting with forming a school (the Sudbury Valley School) in the late 1960s.
I thought rather than add my two cents I’d skim much of the topic by citing some links that cover much of the ground. I’m available to post e-mails to each other through my public email at chrlsful@aol.com or by meeting at any of our Common Shares events.
The provided examples of the Commoning movement all have a common genesis. In terms of etymology, the root is com: “with”, shared, free, open, for all, public; the word originally evolving from the 1300’s and 1400’s. Of course, the Essenes–historically known as Jesus’ community, who were certainly co-operative to survive in that hostile land– and other first peoples lived cooperatively as do many today.
