Monday, 11 August 2025

Elinor Ostrom’s work was all about commons governance — communities managing shared resources without either falling into chaos (tragedy of the commons) or being micromanaged by some central authority. If we took her principles and grafted them onto a SNEZ (a special non-economic zone), it would look like this:

  1. Clearly Defined Boundaries – You’d know exactly where the SNEZ starts and ends, so no one sneaks in with a Starbucks pop-up. 

  2. Collective Choice Arrangements – Everyone in the zone has a say in how it works. No secret board of SNEZ overlords in matching Patagonia vests.

  3. Monitoring – Designated “commons rangers” to make sure rules are followed. They’d carry clipboards, not guns, unless it’s Nerf guns for morale.

  4. Graduated Sanctions – First violation: you get a warning. Second: permanent exile to the nearest mall food court.

  5. Conflict-Resolution Mechanisms – Public meetings to resolve disputes without court battles. Ideally with snacks.

  6. Recognition of Rights to Organize – Outsiders (ahem, governments) aren’t allowed to bulldoze the SNEZ just because they don’t “get it.”

  7. Nested Enterprises – If the SNEZ is part of a bigger network, it can link up with other zones for shared resources while keeping its autonomy. Think commons Voltron.

Basically, you’d end up with a zone where “value” is measured in shared well-being instead of cash flow — all grounded in actual Nobel Prize-winning theory instead of my “what if we just didn’t” daydream.

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