Understanding the Southern Italian commons: polycentric governance on the mountains of Sila

In this article, I examine patterns of collective action in the South of Italy, a region where commons scholarship presents several challenges, mainly due to its feudal heritage. In analysing the history of Southern Italian commons, Elinor Ostrom's theories on polycentric governance are adopted. I propose a case study on the mountains of Sila, where collective action was institutionalised through a municipal organisation known as universitas casalium, consisting of the city of Cosenza and its hamlets. This institution collaborated with the royal government, creating a polycentric governance system where institutional functions contentiously intermingled, generating conflicting relations, but also unique governmental arrangements. Yet how did previous historical interpretations miss this point? Documentary evidence provides a clear answer: while the institutional recognition of the universitas casalium can be traced back as far as the twelfth century, a series of institutional reforms initiated in the mid-fifteenth century led to the progressive decline of the local institution and accordingly of the commons economy related to it. This loss of legitimacy derived from the emergence of feudal barons and later of landowners from the middle class, leading to the progressive dissolution of collective action in Sila as Italy moved towards Italian unification in 1861.L'obiettivo di questa ricerca è contribuire allo studio dei beni comuni nell'Italia meridionale attraverso l'indagine delle relazioni tra pratiche collettive e feudalesimo. Nell'analizzare la storia dei beni comuni nel Mezzogiorno e ponendo attenzione critica sulla governance di carattere policentrico sono state assunte le teorie di E Ostrom. Nello specifico, si propone un caso-studio condotto sull'altopiano Silano, dove i beni comuni furono istituzionalizzati attraverso la formazione dell'Universitas Casalium, organo (o organizzazione) municipale che raccoglieva la città di Cosenza e i suoi casali. L'esistenza di relazioni continue tra questo istituto e il governo reale portò alla nascita di un sistema policentrico di governance in cu diverse funzioni istituzionali si contaminavano in maniera controversa, generando conflitti, ma anche interessanti soluzioni. Considerata la produttività di tale sistema, suscita un certo stupore l'assenza da parte delle interpretazioni storiche precedenti di un approfondimento di questa situazione organizzativa. Le fonti documentarie analizzate in questa sede suppliscono a tale mancanza: se il riconoscimento istituzionale dell’universitas casalium può essere ricondotto al XII secolo, una serie di riforme istituzionali iniziate a partire dal XV secolo dalla corona reale determinarono un progressivo declino di questa istituzione e delle economie che da essa dipendevano. Questa perdita di legittimità corrispose all'emergere di una classe di baroni feudali e successivamente di possidenti notabili, determinando la fine dei commons in Sila, in corrispondenza all'unificazione nazionale del 1861

Creole Ecologies, Feral Customs: A Coevolutionary History of Buccaneering in Hispaniola During the Seventeenth Century

As the European colonization of the Americas progressed through territorial occupation and economic exploitation, the motley Atlantic society that emerged from the Columbian Exchange also led to unprecedented social experiments. This article analyzes the consolidation of buccaneers’ society in the island of Hispaniola during the first half of the seventeenth century. Adopting the methodological tools of environmental history – with a particular emphasis on coevolutionary history and neo-materialism – it assesses how feral European-borne animal species such as feral cattle and pigs played a central role in the creation of this cosmopolitan society living at margins of western civilization. The result was a coevolutionary ecological niche built upon the pounding heart of the creole Caribbean environment of Hispaniola, one the first Spanish settlements in the Americas. After reconstructing their historical trajectory in relation to feral animal species, it also analyzes the historical causes that led to the demise of buccaneers and to the emergence of the plantation complex. This article draws from a vast array of primary sources produced by explorers from several European nations and former buccaneers as well as from scholarly publications in environmental history, Caribbean history and the history of European colonialism.As the European colonization of the Americas progressed through territorial occupation and economic exploitation, the motley Atlantic society that emerged from the Columbian Exchange also led to unprecedented social experiments. This article analyzes the consolidation of buccaneers' culture in the island of Hispaniola during the first half of the seventeenth century. Adopting the methodological tools of environmental history – with a particular emphasis on coevolutionary history and neo-materialism – it assesses how feral European-borne animal species contributed to creating this cosmopolitan society living at the margins of western civilization. This encounter generated an ecological niche carved on the creole Caribbean environment of Hispaniola, one of the first Spanish settlements in the Americas. This article also assesses the historical causes of buccaneers' demise and the emergence of the plantation complex. The research draws from a vast array of primary sources produced by explorers from several European nations and former buccaneers and scholarly publications in environmental history, Caribbean history, and European colonial history.As the European colonization of the Americas progressed through territorial occupation and economic exploitation, the motley Atlantic society that emerged from the Columbian Exchange also led to unprecedented social experiments. This article analyzes the consolidation of buccaneers' culture in the island of Hispaniola during the first half of the seventeenth century. Adopting the methodological tools of environmental history – with a particular emphasis on coevolutionary history and neo-materialism – it assesses how feral European-borne animal species contributed to creating this cosmopolitan society living at the margins of western civilization. This encounter generated an ecological niche carved on the creole Caribbean environment of Hispaniola, one of the first Spanish settlements in the Americas. This article also assesses the historical causes of buccaneers' demise and the emergence of the plantation complex. The research draws from a vast array of primary sources produced by explorers from several European nations and former buccaneers and scholarly publications in environmental history, Caribbean history, and European colonial history

Commons and Bio-Cultural Learning: An Environmental Humanities View on Evolution, Materiality and Society

This article aims to critically contribute to contemporary commons scholarship, using the lenses of the environmental humanities. Linking existing literature on collective action to a vast amount of literature from both the social sciences and the natural sciences could contribute to a new epistemological framework to understand anthropogenic processes of collective action. Both recent biological evolution theories and ontologically oriented philosophical perspectives have insisted on the endemic collaborative nature of coexistence processes as the embodiment of a larger ecological, material, and cultural whole. Looking at these processes through the lenses of coexistence could potentially reshape commons scholarship, overcoming what I define as the “long shadow of Hardinism,” while simultaneously further stimulating dialogue, and hopefully consilience, between the social and natural sciences

Towards the Soyacene: Narratives for an Environmental History of Soy in Latin America's Southern Cone.

This article provides an historical analysis of soybean farming in the most productive region of the world: Latin America’s Southern Cone, with particular attention for Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil. Drawing from the premise that current narratives on soybean cultivation and commercialization have mostly focused on quantitative data of a global scope, this article discusses the potential of scholarly narratives informed by the critical tools of environmental history. Moreover, it proposes the adoption of a new term sublimating the multilayered history of soybeans in the Southern Cone: the Soyacene. This term attempts to shape an original narrative of soybean production in the age of the Great Acceleration, deconstructing misleading historical assumptions. Moreover, by critically discussing the impacts of soybean production, the Soyacene strives to produce a non-essentialist historical narrative in which the diverging interests of different social layers (e.g. governmental actors, private corporations, small farmers and indigenous populations) are addressed with contextualized critical tools.Este artículo ofrece un análisis histórico del cultivo de la soja en una de las regiones más productivas del mundo: el Cono Sur de América Latina, con especial atención en Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay y el sur de Brasil. Partiendo de la premisa de que las narrativas actuales sobre el cultivo y la comercialización de la soja se han centrado principalmente en datos cuantitativos de alcance mundial, este artículo analiza el potencial de las discusiones académicas basadas en las herramientas críticas de la historia ambiental. Además, propone la adopción de un nuevo término que destaca la historia multiescalar de la soja en el Cono Sur: el Soyaceno. Este término intenta dar forma a una narrativa original de la producción de soja en la era de la Gran Aceleración, deconstruyendo supuestos históricos problemáticos. Además, mediante el debate crítico de los impactos de la producción de soja, el Soyaceno se esfuerza por producir una narrativa histórica no esencialista en la que los intereses divergentes de las diferentes capas sociales (por ejemplo, los actores gubernamentales, las empresas privadas, los pequeños agricultores y las poblaciones indígenas) son abordados desde herramientas críticas que permiten una mayor contextualización

A Geo-historical Analysis of Expanding Soybean Frontiers in the Brazilian Cerrado

Until the 1970s, the Brazilian Cerrado was considered an unsuitable agricultural territory. Logistic and infrastructural issues, combined with soil acidity, made the Cerrado a marginal biome for crop production. However, since the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) was created in 1973, the Cerrado has become a national and international hotspot for the food industry. Such a transformation turned this savannah biome into a landmark for the tropical expansion of commodity frontiers, especially in soy production. This research seeks to analyze data on the historical development of soy production volumes and productivity in the Cerrado, considering the complex interrelations between commodity frontier dynamics and its interface within different Brazilian biomes. Comparing data from the Cerrado and other biomes, our results indicate a rapid expansion of the soybean frontier in most Brazilian biogeographic regions. Moreover, it demonstrates how the growth of soy farming in the Brazilian Cerrado is also affecting other biomes such as the Amazon, influencing local and national policies of agrarian expansion and environmental conservation.Until the 1970s, the Brazilian Cerrado was considered an unsuitable agricultural territory. Logistic and infrastructural issues, combined with soil acidity, made the Cerrado a marginal biome for crop production. However, since the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) was created in 1973, the Cerrado has become a national and international hotspot for the food industry. Such a transformation turned this savannah biome into a landmark for the tropical expansion of commodity frontiers, especially in soy production. This research seeks to analyze data on the historical development of soy production volumes and productivity in the Cerrado, considering the complex interrelations between commodity frontier dynamics and its interface within different Brazilian biomes. Comparing data from the Cerrado and other biomes, our results indicate a rapid expansion of the soybean frontier in most Brazilian biogeographic regions. Moreover, it demonstrates how the growth of soy farming in the Brazilian Cerrado is also affecting other biomes such as the Amazon, influencing local and national policies of agrarian expansion and environmental conservation.Until the 1970s, the Brazilian Cerrado was considered an unsuitable agricultural territory. Logistic and infrastructural issues, combined with soil acidity, made the Cerrado a marginal biome for crop production. However, since the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) was created in 1973, the Cerrado has become a national and international hotspot for the food industry. Such a transformation turned this savannah biome into a landmark for the tropical expansion of commodity frontiers, especially in soy production. This research seeks to analyze data on the historical development of soy production volumes and productivity in the Cerrado, considering the complex interrelations between commodity frontier dynamics and its interface within different Brazilian biomes. Comparing data from the Cerrado and other biomes, our results indicate a rapid expansion of the soybean frontier in most Brazilian biogeographic regions. Moreover, it demonstrates how the growth of soy farming in the Brazilian Cerrado is also affecting other biomes such as the Amazon, influencing local and national policies of agrarian expansion and environmental conservation