Inclusive Commons and the Sustainability of Peasant Communities in the Medieval Low Countries

"Is inclusiveness in the commons and sustainability a paradox? Late medieval and Early Modern rural societies encountered ever growing challenges because of growing population pressure, urbanization and commercialization. While some regions went along this path and commercialized and intensified production, others sailed a different course, maintaining communal property and managing resources via common pool resource institutions. To prevent overexploitation and free riding, it was generally believed that strong formalized institutions, strict access regimes and restricted use rights were essential. By looking at the late medieval Campine area, a sandy, infertile and fragile region, dominated by communal property and located at the core of the densely populated and commercialized Low Countries, it has become clear that sustainability, economic success and inclusiveness can be compatible"--