11 THE ITALIAN LAW JOURNAL NO. 2 (2025)

 

The Commons Between Law, Space, and Belonging

by Alessandra Quarta

This paper examines the commons as a conceptual and practical framework capable of reshaping the traditional paradigm of private property. Building on Veronica Pecile’s analysis of urban conflicts and grassroots initiatives, the paper argues that the commons reveal a fragmented and relational understanding of ownership, one in which access, participation, and inclusion become central legal values. By situating the commons within the theory of goods, the analysis highlights their capacity to reconfigure private law from within, offering an institutional repertoire that operates in the interstices between public and private, state and market. Particular attention is devoted to the structural critique of the owner’s right to exclude, understood as the core mechanism through which inequality is reproduced and non-ownership is rendered invisible in legal doctrine. The paper shows how contested property claims emerging in urban contexts articulate alternative models of ownership that accommodate the interests of non-owners and prioritize the social functions of resources. It further explores the risks and possibilities inherent in the internal organization of commons-based communities, including governance, membership, and substantive inclusion. Ultimately, the paper contends that the commons provide a legally viable and normatively compelling tool for redistributing access to resources in a context of growing economic inequality, revealing how private law can serve not merely as a system of allocation but as a field of transformative institutional innovation.

DOI 10.23815/2421-2156.ITALJ           ISSN 2421-2156

 Read the full article