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The collection of essays edited by Christian Borch and Martin Kornberger offers a series of case studies on urban commons and the communities around them. This book is about sharing, negotiation, conflict, co-operation and all other relations that happen in urban life. These issues are treated from a variety of perspective and approaches. However, they have in common a mainly empirical approach and an interest in social rules, institutions, and relations. For instance, we find the process by which a landfill in Nicaragua was turned into a mean of living for the least well-off who acted as rubbish collectors (Producing, appropriating and recreating the myth of the commons by Zapata and Zapata), the conflicts on who defines the right to live in Danish housing societies (Communities and the commons: Open access and community ownership of the urban commons by Maja Hoger Bruun), or how a train station became a shared space for myriads of different activities despite the efforts by public authorities to limit them to the ‘socially acceptable’ (Sharing an atmosphere: spaces in Urban Commons by Orvar Löfgren).

Source: Taylor & Francis

As well, they share a sceptic vision on the transformative power of the commons: on their own, they will not save the world. For example, the work by Leif Jerram “The False Promise of the Urban Commons” describes how London and Berlin as a whole became commons for the LGTB community. Yet, this did not largely change the situation of discrimination of this collective (and those who profited more from it may have been owners of bars and other entertainment businesses). However, they do recognise the potential of the commons as spaces of provision for citizens, particularly those who cannot access to products offered through the market. A good example is the chapter by Zapata and Zapata, which shows how the collective action of appropriating the landfill and the rejects of other parts of society triggered a movement of defence against the privatisation of recycling services..

I found this book a clear and insightful collection of points of view over commons, those who create and use them, and the processes by which they are appropriated in our cities. The book avoids both the economic determinism of “The Tragedy of the Commons” and the optimism bordering on wishful thinking of some post-Marxist authors which give the commons quasi-magical properties of societal change. In this volume, commons are collectively appropriated or created, profit is taken from them, suffer privatisation attempts, are argued over… and are simultaneously as alternative to and embedded in market systems. Collectively, the introduction and the seven essays extend the definition of a commons beyond that of the ‘rival, non-excludable’ into resources that exist always in relation to a community, who sometimes creates them and sometimes conssumes them. According to this volume, then, many resources would be ‘commons in potency’ and become such by means of collective action. However, I found that this reworking of the definition was too often left implicit. If something was missing from this work is the critical dialogue with the classics of the topic. As it both drew from and expanded away from Ostrom, Hardin, and the like, more engagement with these titles would have been useful in order to see more clearly how is the field of the commons evolving and what can still be learnt from the cornerstones of the field. As well, I missed in the choice of cases: out of seven cases, five are located in Europe, one in North America, and one in the Global South (Nicaragua).

All in all, this is a valuable collection of pieces that offer ample insights on how commoning works at an urban level. It presents a variety of case studies, which, if mostly located in similar contexts, they present a wide range of social phenomena linked to the urban commons and offer new views and reflect on potentials and shortcomings of these urban alternatives.

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Courtesy of Helsinki Filmi

On the evening of 30 September 2017, a long queue of mostly LGTBQ men dressed in leather attire had formed outside the Playhouse theatre during the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF). Not knowing too much about the film Tom of Finland and the story it told, this scene unfolding in front of the cinema seemed rather curious and maybe more so something you would encounter on a night out in one of Vancouver’s gay clubs. However, after seen the film, it all made a lot more sense.

With Tom of Finland, Dome Karukoski, engagingly tells the life story of Touko Laaksonen (1920-1991), a Finnish artist known for his gay erotic art and emancipation of gay culture. Starting with flashbacks to Touko’s time in the Finnish army during the second World War (which will reappear throughout the film), the viewer is quite quickly introduced, in an explicit but playful manner, to the fact that Laaksonen and many of his comrades are gay. Then, switching to post-war Finland we learn more and more about Laaksonen’s life living with his sister and working as an art director for an advertising company. As the film unfolds, spectators will slowly come to unearth the Finnish history regarding the acceptance of gays and gay culture and the onset of fetishism in an emotional but still often whimsical way.

Veli (Lauri Tilkanen), Touko Laaksonen (Pekka Strang) and Kaija Laaksonen (Jessica Grabowsky). Still by Josef Persson.

Aside from having told a compelling, dramatic, historic and emancipator story, this film has done more. On the night of the screening of Tom of Finland the VIFF and the Playhouse theatre functioned as an agora where groups as well as individuals could interact in a common and meaningful way. The film has brought together a community, with shared experiences, that together celebrated one of the frontrunners and emancipators of their subculture. And to those outside that particular community, it has raised awareness and a cultural history regarding said community and emancipation. It yanked various urban citizens out of their safe bubble of likeminded and similar people, but succeeded in constructing a renewed sense of community. This raises further questions about the relationship between such a digital agora and the tangible urban landscape. How can a virtual forum in relation to the urban built environment create such a sense of community? And how can institutions and urban planners allow for this creation of commons?

According to Martin Scorsese ‘now more than ever we need to talk to each other, listen to each other and understand how we see the world, and cinema is the best medium for doing this’. In these times when various groups in society are drifting further apart, and when we are seemingly losing a common understanding of human values and community, it is of great importance that we recognize the ability of for example the visual arts to recreate such a common understanding and shared experience. The story of Touko Laaksonen specifically has learned us to value difference and to accept others the way they are. And maybe more importantly it has taught us that there should not be space for any hatred. As this film has showed, coming to a renewed sense of community through culture should not be achieved through overtly convincing others of one’s points of view and histories in either public or political debates, rather it is just a matter of sitting down and watching.

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Ocejo’s new book takes us on a voyage of discovery of the revival of ‘old’ crafts in New York City. Why are well-educated people – primarily men – shying away from white collar work and taking up manual jobs in sectors traditionally perceived as low status?

The inquiry arises from the observed craft renaissance in advanced urban economies. Jobs centred around manual skills are allegedly making a come-back. Indeed, they are attracting to their ranks second careerists looking to reconnect with what they perceive as more authentic work. The book offers a fascinating portrait of four worlds: cocktail bars, distilleries, men’s barbers and whole-animal butchers. Through dedicated ethnographic work, including some too close for comfort encounters with dead animals, Ocejo explores the practice and motivations of these new urban craftsmen. The desire to do a job well, to deliver with a high level of expertise and technical skill characterizes the subjects of this study. And there is more. Doing a job well is part and parcel of the perceived reward of their occupational choice. As such, the book offers a glimpse into an alternative urban economy: one bathed in nostalgia maybe, but also one where younger generations of producers and consumers are rediscovering and valuing crafts. While Masters of Craft focuses on the production side, it is also a call for consumers to reward skill and mastery in their choices.

For all its richness and depth, Masters of Craft however falls short of a clear stance on exactly how sustainable and egalitarian these old jobs in the new urban economy actually are. Is this a new economy for all, or is this exclusive to the playing field of affluent urbanites in search for distinction? And while we learn how middle-class men navigate entry to these occupations mobilising savoir faire and personal networks, what are the prospects for a more diverse group of aspirants? Is this just a trend? What are the survival rates of these businesses? In the epilogue, we also sense a dominant narrative of progress as growth and expansion. The shadow of co-optation looms large. The small, independent distillery caught the eye of a large company, that eventually bought the brand. Craft cocktails are now so popular that claims to their authenticity get lost in the clatter of a downtown bar.

Yet there is a message of hope here. Ocejo sketches a vision for the future where taking the time to do a job well and to appreciate are core values. So let’s raise a glass of slow-distilled gin and toast to this new economy: may it lead to more meaningful work and more conscious consumption for all.

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