Schulze, Lennart

This paper systematically reviews the literature on commoning across all fields and sectors. The systematic analysis examines over 560 peer-reviewed journal articles that explicitly use the term ‘commoning’ in the title, abstract or keywords. Each title and abstract was screened to ensure that each article fit the scope of the project, which enabled a full text analysis of each. In doing so, we examine the spectrum of definitions, narratives, contexts and concepts associated with research on commoning. Furthermore, we examine the logical arguments and empirical support for the transformative potential of commoning as a form of social organization, collective action and mechanism for structural reorganization of social and economic life towards sustainability. In the discussion we reflect on the term’s diversity of meanings and uses, as well as directions forward within a diversifying body of literature.