an Maanen, Gijs; Ducuing, Cha lo e; Fia, Tommaso
A icle
Da a commons
In e ne Policy Re iew
P o ided in Coope a ion wi h:
Alexande on Humbold Ins i u e o In e ne and Socie y (HIIG), Be lin
Sugges ed Ci a ion: an Maanen, Gijs; Ducuing, Cha lo e; Fia, Tommaso (2024) : Da a commons,
In e ne Policy Re iew, ISSN 2197-6775, Alexande on Humbold Ins i u e o In e ne and Socie y,
Be lin, Vol. 13, Iss. 2, pp. 1-13,
h ps://doi.o g/10.14763/2024.2.1748
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Volume 13 |
Da a commons
Gijs an Maanen Tilbu g Uni e si y
Cha lo e Ducuing KU Leu en
Tommaso Fia Uni e si y o Tübingen
DOI: h ps://doi.o g/10.14763/2024.2.1748
Published: 4 Ap il 2024
Recei ed: 13 July 2023 Accep ed: 30 Augus 2023
Funding: Gijs an Maanen ecei ed unding om he Eu opean Resea ch Council (ERC;
716971). Pa o Tommaso Fia’s esea ch ac i i y has ecei ed inancial suppo om
he I alian Minis y o Fo eign A ai s as a unding au ho i y o he PhD p og amme in
Law a he Eu opean Uni e si y Ins i u e. Cha lo e Ducuing ecei ed unding om he
KU Leu en Uni e si y (in e disciplina y esea ch p ojec ‘da a ica ion o he ci cula
economy’). All ou unding sou ces had no in ol emen in his esea ch p ojec .
Compe ing In e es s: The au ho has decla ed ha no compe ing in e es s exis ha
ha e in luenced he ex .
Licence: This is an open-access a icle dis ibu ed unde he e ms o he C ea i e
Commons A ibu ion 3.0 License (Ge many) which pe mi s un es ic ed use,
dis ibu ion, and ep oduc ion in any medium, p o ided he o iginal wo k is p ope ly
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Copy igh emains wi h he au ho (s).
Ci a ion: an Maanen, G. & Ducuing, C. & Fia, T. (2024). Da a commons. In e ne Policy
Re iew, 13(2). h ps://doi.o g/10.14763/2024.2.1748
Keywo ds: Da a commons, Capi alism, Sus ainable commons, Da a go e nance
Abs ac : Da a commons is an o en-used bu also ambiguous no ion, and aspi es o connec he
complex no ion o ‘da a’ wi h ha o he ‘commons’ — a concep wi h an equally a iable and
con es ed meaning. This en y collec s and connec s se e al ecen con ibu ions o discussions on
da a commons as a means o o eg ound se e al impo an communi y- ela ed hemes. We ake
his discu si e mo e o be impo an because he adjec i e ‘da a’ has he endency o ans o m
social, communal, and poli ical p oblems in o echnological ones ha esul in con usions be ween
means and ends ha endange he iabili y o he commons. We discuss ou hemes ha help o
e-p io i ise communi y- ela ed in e es s and p oblems o e hei echnological solu ions. We
discuss a da a commons ela ionship o i sel (1), i s ela ionship o o he commons (2), o
capi alism (3), and sus ainabili y (4). We s uc u e he li e a u e on da a commons o con ex ualise,
his o icise, and poli icise da a commons, and ul ima ely unde s and hem as ways o li ing oge he
(wi h da a) a he han as ins umen s o manage da a.
Issue 2
This a icle belongs o he Glossa y o decen alised echnosocial sys ems, a special
sec ion o In e ne Policy Re iew.
De ini ion
Sho e sion:
Da a commons a e communi ies ha collec i ely and sus ainably go e n da a and
hei ela ionships.
Expanded e sion: Da a commons a e communi ies ha collec i ely and sus ain-
ably go e n da a and hei ela ionships. This de ini ion emphasises he ela ion-
ships and in e dependencies be ween g oups, he da a ha a e in some way ela -
ed o he g oup, and he a ious ypes o ac i i ies in ol ed. This implies ha sus-
ainabili y ela es no only o he da a bu also o he communi y in ol ed in hei
go e nance.
1. In oduc ion
Many echnology and da a schola s ha e been emphasising he impo ance o un-
de s anding da a- ela ed p oblems and solu ions on mo e- han-indi idual le els,
as exempli ied by he g owing in e es in commons-based da a go e nance models
(e.g. Flo idi, 2017).
Da a commons can be concep ualised in a ious ways (Fia, 2021). Some da a com-
mons ende ings d aw om economics (e.g. Elino Os om; Wong e al., 2022; Zyg-
mun owski e al., 2021). O he s p esen legal and ins i u ional in e p e a ions o
he da a commons (Madison, 2020). Wi hin u ban s udies, esea che s conce n
hemsel es wi h ‘u ban da a commons’ (e.g. Calzada e al., 2023; De Lange, 2021).
‘C i ical’ and Ma xis schola s come up wi h an i-capi alis e sions (B oumas,
2020; Lijs e , 2022). The majo i y o he con ibu ions o he deba e a e si ua ed
wi hin EU policy discussions and p esuppose ha some o m o collec i e manage-
men , and go e nance o goods like da a and knowledge, will esul in all so s o
socie al bene i s (e.g. Micheli e al., 2020; Zygmun owski e al., 2021; Micheli e
al., 2023).
This en y d aws a en ion o se e al unde lying hemes ha emain unde -dis-
cussed in he da a, policy, and ech-o ien ed da a commons deba es. By doing so, i
helps o s uc u e he li e a u e and o con ex ualise, his o icise and poli icise he
idea(l) o da a commons. Subsequen ly, his en y aspi es o cla i y he ex en o
2 In e ne Policy Re iew 13(2) | 2024
which da a commons could deli e on some o i s associa ed hopes (Hicks, 2023).
We canno no do we claim o be exhaus i e he e in ou engagemen wi h he da a
commons li e a u e. We also do no discuss he ela ionship be ween da a com-
mons and he law.
We use he ollowing wo king de ini ion o da a commons: da a commons a e com-
muni ies ha collec i ely and sus ainably go e n da a and hei ela ionships.1
This de ini ion emphasises he ela ionship and in e dependencies be ween
g oups, he da a ha a e in some way ela ed o he g oup, and he a ious ypes
o ac i i ies in ol ed. This implies ha sus ainabili y ela es no only o he da a,
bu also o he communi y in ol ed in hei go e nance. This de ini ion is su i-
cien ly b oad o cap u e bo h mo e economics-based unde s andings o he com-
mons, and less esou ce-o ien ed ones o be ound in o he ields and disciplines.
Fu he mo e, i allows o a speci ica ion o i s key cons i u i e elemen s — ‘com-
muni y’, ‘sus ainably’ — and hus po en ially excludes p oposals om i s scope
when hey appea o be unsus ainable, such as hose ha ocus p ima ily on he
sha ing o da a o da a’s sake (Bodó, 2019).
2. Communi ies: F om hin o hick…
The i s heme o discuss is ha o he kinds o communi y p esupposed in da a
commons p oposals. Following he di e en da a commons deba es, he e a e a -
ious ways o unde s and he communi ies ha go e n da a. Economics-o ien ed
heo is s unde s and he commons as a g oup o indi iduals seeking o a ionally
sol e collec i e-ac ion p oblems, wha we he eby e e o as a ‘ hin’ concep ion o
he commons (Da do & La al, 2015/2019, p. 92; Madison, 2020).2 Fo example,
he ‘sha ed se e model’ p oposal o go e n in- ehicle da a was p omp ed as a
possible op ion o allow indi idual businesses o ge access o he da a hey e-
spec i ely need (Ducuing, 2020).
Fo o he s, he commons ha e o do wi h communi ies ha a e no only able o
sol e a p oblem, bu also sha e languages, mo al-poli ical belie s, cul u al ai s
and unde s andings, and ha e a di ec and unmedia ed ela ionship o a longe
pe iod o ime. This illus a es a ‘ hicke ’ unde s anding o he commons.3Fo ex-
1. We d aw he e om Dulong de Rosnay and S alde ’s (2020) desc ip ion o ‘digi al commons’ ha
hey bo owed om De Angelis (see De Angelis, 2017; Dulong de Rosnay & S alde , 2020).
2. See on he hin- hick dis inc ion e.g. Do son, 2017.
3. See his in e es ing deba e be ween Os om and Single on & Taylo (Os om, 1992; Single on &
Taylo , 1992). On he di e ence be ween economic and sociological unde s andings o he p oblem
o he commons, see his sho and e y help ul con ibu ion by W igh (2008).
3 an Maanen, Ducuing, Fia
ample, indigenous da a so e eign y mo emen s all o e he globe a e conce ned
wi h p oblems ha ha e o do wi h hem as communi ies a he han pa icipan s
in a da a-sha ing ecosys em (Wal e e al., 2020). The kind o communi y engaged
in o ms o da a commoning, hus, in e ela es wi h he iden i ica ion o he speci -
ic p oblem a s ake.
Fo his eason, i is impo an o e lec on wha kind o communi y one p esup-
poses when discussing da a commons as go e nance solu ions, al hough i bea s
men ioning ha he “ hin and hick” communi ies a e no mu ually exclusi e ca e-
go ies.
Fi s , hin concep ions o da a commons may be emp ed o be agnos ic o he na-
u e o indi iduals and communi ies in cha ge o da a go e nance. This implies
ha such p oposals and models can and should be implemen ed by e e yone and
e e ywhe e. In con as , ‘ hick’ unde s andings o communi ies pu p essu e on he
uni e salising endencies o such da a go e nance amewo ks (Bi hane, 2021;
Hicks, 2023). I ma e s no only wha kind o da a commons model is implemen -
ed, bu how he go e nance mechanisms a e chosen and by whom. F om a hicke
unde s anding o communi y, he making o da a commons necessi a es ecognis-
ing, acknowledging, and p ocessing he sociopoli ical ensions exis ing be ween
op-down policy models and bo om-up go e nance p ac ices (see G aebe , 2004,
p. 9).
Second, and ela edly, hin concep ions o da a commons may mis- ecognise he
cha ac e o he ha ms caused by ce ain da a- ela ed p ac ices. T ying o sa is y
he p e e ences o indi idual pa icipan s o a da a go e nance ini ia i e ackles,
a guably, a di e en ype o ha m han he mi iga ion o da a- ela ed ha ms done
o a communi y conside ed as a whole, which a e mo e collec i e o socie al in na-
u e (Smuha, 2021).
Whe he he communi y should be app oached om a hin o hick pe spec i e al-
so impac s on he no ma i e ques ion o whe he and unde which condi ions da a
commons should o should no scale up, and based on which c i e ia, as he ol-
lowing sec ion shows.
3. …And om inside o ou side
The nex se o ques ions deals wi h how da a commons could ela e o bo h
hemsel es and o he communi ies. This is unde -add essed, wi h da a commons
being mainly discussed as isola ed cons uc s and wi h li le a en ion paid o how
4 In e ne Policy Re iew 13(2) | 2024
hey ela e o o he communi ies and, in pa icula , how i impac s hei success. I
is help ul he e o dis inguish be ween in a-communi y- ela ed ques ions — e.g.
wha ules go e n he communi y i sel ? — and in e -communi y- ela ed ques ions
— wha ules go e n he in e ac ions be ween communi ies? Fo bo h se s o
ques ions, i is impo an o conside he ex en o which he conce ned communi-
ies a e au onomous o independen .
In a-communi y issues ela e o he deg ee o au onomy ha communi ies ha e.
Pu di e en ly, hey se e as a benchma k o gauge he in e ac ions o communi y
membe s in a communi y. To illus a e, membe s o a da a commons can be a o d-
ed mo e o less cons ain s as o how and whe he hey can ela e o he da a
commons i sel in e ms o pa icipa ion and collec i e go e nance. A ecen in e -
es ing example in his espec is he Go e ning he Knowledge Commons (GKC)
amewo k de eloped by ins i u ionalis legal schola s (F ischmann e al., 2014).
The GKC amewo k is ela i ely agnos ic o he kind o no ms a knowledge o da a
commons de ises. Madison, o ins ance, w i es ha “ he ole o he collec i e is
la gely o de ine i s own go e nance sys em ela i e o dilemmas associa ed wi h
speci ied esou ces, p oducing a o m o ins i u ional go e nance in con ex ”
(Madison, 2020, p. 37). In o he wo ds, da a commons should ha e a lo o eedom
o de e mine hei in a-communi y- ela ed ules.
In e -communi y ma e s pe ain o ules a ec ing he ela ionships be ween di -
e en communi ies. A help ul con as o GKC a e he a o emen ioned indigenous
da a so e eign y mo emen s. These explici ly connec hemsel es o one ano he
in hei decolonial s uggles and use communi y- anscending amewo ks o in-
c ease hei independence om se le s a es. Simila ly, c i ical, socialis , o Ma x-
is (da a) commons p oposals explica e he mu ual dependence o indi idual (da a)
commons ini ia i es. E e yone is implica ed in he s uggle agains capi alism, and
i is bo h ine ec i e and oo sel -cen ed o hide behind he ules ha me ely go -
e n one’s own da a go e nance a angemen .4
How one d aws he bounda ies o he da a commons is hus a con en ious ma e
ha dese es ho ough e lec ion on he commone s’ end. While commons a e in-
he en ly ‘local’,5 commone s may wan o scale up o ensu e he au onomy and
sus ainabili y o he commons is-à- is he ou side wo ld. The echnological na-
4. This is a common c i icism on he ‘libe al’ cha ac e o Os omian ypes o he commons (Da do &
La al, 2015/2019, p. 102). Lijs e claims ha e e yone who’s exploi ed (should) belong o he com-
mon (Lijs e , 2022, pp. 192–193).
5. The ca e ha should be gi en o he local condi ions cons i u es one o he eigh 'design p inci-
ples' iden i ied by Os om o commons (Os om, 1990, pp. 90–102).
5 an Maanen, Ducuing, Fia
u e o da a implies ha echnology, mainly discussed in he ield o blockchain,
may be le e aged o ha aim (F i sch e al., 2021). Howe e , in ligh o he abo e,
ques ions abou how commons should o ganise hemsel es and hei ela ionship
wi h o he communi ies and ac o s will always be in need o sus ainable answe s.
4. Da a commons and capi alism
Al hough no always explici ly acknowledged in he li e a u e, he ela ionship be-
ween commons and mo e s uc u al p oblems such as capi alism is complica ed,
which wa an s i s inclusion in o his glossa y as he hi d heme o discuss.
Da a capi alism is “a sys em in which he commodi iza ion o ou da a enables a
edis ibu ion o powe in he in o ma ion age” (Wes , 2019, p. 23) h ough he
ans o ming o ela ionships in o objec s (G aebe , 2001, pp. 8–9; Lijs e , 2022, p.
108). This da a commodi ica ion p ocess enables, hen, da a eloca ion and ( e)use
by a la ge and di use numbe o ac o s. Since da a commons a e o en depic ed as
al e na i es o how powe ela ions a e dis ibu ed in digi al economies, i is wo h
e lec ing on wha i would mean o ea da a in such a way ha one does no
con ibu e o and ein o ce he p oblems one ies o sol e. In his ligh , we ake
he dis inc ion be ween use- alue and exchange- alue o be a help ul ool o e al-
ua e ypes o da a commons.6
Exchange- alue e e s o he e alua ion o (in his case) da a p ima ily based on
he (mos o he ime, mone a y) p ice someone wan s o pay o hem in exchange
ela ionships. Rela ionships o exchange a e abou ‘equi alence’ and commensu a-
bili y: wo (o mo e) pa ies ha e an in e es in a pa icula good o commodi y
(e.g. da a) and nego ia e abou who is willing o gi e he bes p ice o he con-
ce ned good (G aebe , 2011). In sho , we can g asp exchange- alue in e ms o i s
quan i a i e salience (He mann, 2021, p. 123). In exchange ela ionships, bo h pa -
ies a e assumed o be equal, and a ely does i ma e who does he buying, o e-
spec i ely he selling — exchange ela ionships a e impe sonal (G aebe , 2011, p.
103). The impe sonal cha ac e o exchanges is ein o ced by he ac ha ex-
changes end: a e wa d, “bo h pa ies can walk away and ha e no hing u he o
do wi h each o he ” (G aebe , 2011, p. 122). The exchange, and in pa icula he
p ice paid in exchange o he hing (i.e. he da a) exhaus s and hus de e mines
he cha ac e o he ela ionship.
6. We a e awa e ha he use/exchange- alue dis inc ion educes he p oblem o be deal wi h o a
po en ially educ ionis bina y one. See he wo k o Tama Sha on o a mo e ‘plu alis ic’ app oach
owa ds hese p oblems (Sha on, 2021).
6 In e ne Policy Re iew 13(2) | 2024
The emphasis placed on he quan i a i e salience is isible wi h he p omo ion, by
he O ganiza ion o Economic Co-ope a ion and De elopmen (OECD), o da a
commons as ‘open da a’, wi h he expec a ion ha mo e da a exchange will gene -
a e mo e economic alue. Such da a sha ing is hus gea ed owa ds he ‘domina-
ion’ o he exchange- alue (i.e. inc eased GDP as a esul o ‘mo e da a’ a ailable)
o e he use- alue o da a, namely o a signi ican ex en i espec i e o he pu -
pose o he use (OECD, 2015, 2019). Ano he example o mo e exchange-o ien ed
o ms o da a go e nance a e da a coope a i es ha ope a e as enable s o In e -
ne o Things (IoT) da a sha ing be ween small and medium-sized en e p ises
(SMEs) (Baa s e al., 2021).
Use- alue e e s o how hings, such as da a, can be o use o he p ojec s people
hemsel es a e in ol ed in. The acquisi ion o a use- alue o da a is accompanied
by di e en ypes o ela ionships o which “i is impossible o ell i one use al-
ue is g ea e han ano he ” (He mann, 2021, p. 123). Fo G aebe , o ins ance, non-
exchange based ela ionships can be cha ac e ised as o ms o ‘baseline commu-
nism’ (G aebe , 2011, p. 98) whe e hose in ol ed ake he ollowing p inciples as
he minimal mo al baseline: “ om each acco ding o hei abili ies, o each acco d-
ing o hei needs” (G aebe , 2011, p. 94). In such ela ionships, people wo k o-
ge he no because hey expec some hing in e u n (i.e. a ‘p ice’) bu because o
hei in ol emen in a common p ojec o which i is impo an ha i does no
come o an end. The commons as he “collec i e adminis a ion o common e-
sou ces” a e lis ed as exempla y (G aebe , 2011, p. 100). Think, o example, o
o ms o da a ac i ism (D’Ignazio & Klein, 2020) o , once mo e, indigenous da a
so e eign y mo emen s, whe e da a is ins umen al o he exis ence o indigenous
communi ies. A las example he e a e (in o mal) u ban da a communi ies ha o m
a ound p oblems associa ed wi h he lack o su icien da a sha ing o add ess spe-
ci ic socie al issues. To add ess hem, hey engage in commoning p ac ices o col-
lec and use da a o he pu poses ha ci izens deem impo an o he collec i e
in e es o he communi y (de Lange, pp. 77-79).
T anspo ing he use/exchange- alue dis inc ion and he associa ed ela ionships
o he con ex o da a go e nance sheds a di e en ligh on da a commons. I , o
ins ance, a da a commons ini ia i e is p ima ily couched in o he logics o da a
sha ing and exchange, i is wo h asking i his way o ela ing and aluing da a
can add ess da a capi alis p ac ices. By con as , da a commons ini ia i es
p emised on he di ec use o da a se s o a conc e e communi y- ela ed goal
could po en ially slow down, and pe haps e en educe he p oblema ic implica-
ions o da a commodi ica ion.
7 an Maanen, Ducuing, Fia
I becomes, in o he wo ds, impo an o pay special a en ion o how ce ain uses
o da a in e ela e wi h ce ain ela ionships and communi ies, as a means o make
su e ha one does no me ely eplica e he commodi ica ion-p emised s a us quo.
5. Da a commons and sus ainabili y
The ou h heme o discuss — ha o sus ainabili y — is an issue b ough up in
many discussions on he commons, bu i has su p isingly played a mino ole con-
ce ning da a commons, and when i does, i s meanings emain ambiguous.
A i s o m o sus ainabili y p esen in bo h old and mo e ecen w i ings on com-
mons conce ns he sus ainable p o ision o esou ces. T ansla ed o da a, so-called
‘na u alis ’ in e p e a ions ocus on he sus ainable p o ision o da a as a means o
u he socie al goals (Pu o a & Van Maanen, 2023).7 A limi a ion o his unde -
s anding o sus ainabili y, howe e , is ha i igno es he in as uc u es and
ecosys ems on which hose da a depend. In hei discussion o scien i ic commons,
Hess and Os om ske ch he ‘ecological makeup o schola ly in o ma ion’, which
back hen consis ed o books, lib a ies, ideas, and eade s, bu which became p one
o loss o quali y a e he eme gence o scien i ic publishe s and hei paywalls
(Hess & Os om, 2006). The sus ainabili y o he commons, in o he wo ds, de-
pends on mo e han he me e a ailabili y o a esou ce ‘uni ’ (such as da a), and
has o do wi h he cha ac e is ics o he esou ce sys em in which i can be ound.
The iden i ica ion and analysis o hese sys ems is hus a key cha ac e is ic o such
a ‘b oade ’ unde s anding o sus ainabili y. This has, o ins ance, been discussed in
he con ex o da a hoa ding by online pla o ms whe eby indi iduals cons i u e
he human li es ock (Pu o a, 2017), and in he con ex o ‘sma a ming’ whe eby
he esou ce, seemingly encapsula ed wi h ‘da a’, is ac ually also he a m, he
soils, he seeds, e c. o which da a ela e (Baa bé e al., 2019). In he da a ealm,
sus ainabili y is hus no only a ques ion o p ope p o ision and access bu con-
ce ns he b oade da a ecosys em, and as such is mo e in line wi h Os om’s ocus
on esou ce sys ems.
Secondly, ques ions o sus ainabili y a e also connec ed o communi y ques ions
(see sec ion 2). Fo example, in which condi ions can he communi y sus ain i sel
in a con ex o pe asi e da a commodi ica ion d i en by la ge da a playe s? A di-
mension o e lec on, among many o he s, is whe he he ‘mono-pu pose’ cha ac-
e o many digi al and da a commons supplies communi ies wi h su icien ea-
7. A imes, Os om he sel can be ead as ad oca ing o such an app oach hough she makes clea
CPR’s a e conce ned wi h esou ce sys ems a he han me e esou ces.
8 In e ne Policy Re iew 13(2) | 2024
