Tragedy of the Commons Conference

Len Champney shares the following information on an upcoming conference:
In 1968, biologist Garrett Hardin published the seminal article “The Tragedy of the Commons,” in the journal Science, arguing that the Earth is a global commons threatened by overpopulation. On Friday, November 21, 2008, the Adrian College Policy Institute hosts “The Tragedy of the Commons” 40th Anniversary Symposium, bringing together scholars from biology, economics, political science, mathematics, philosophy, public policy and law to discuss Hardin’s article and the state of commons research today.

The Symposium will begin with lunch at 12:00, and after the panels will conclude with a dinner beginning at 6:30 p.m. Registration is $45, which includes lunch and dinner. Also included in the fee are transportation to and from Detroit Metro Airport and one night’s lodging at the Carlton Lodge (http://www.carltonlodge.com) if needed. Each attendee will receive a commemorative item with the Symposium logo.

To register, please go to the Symposium website to access the registration form. Return the completed form to Symposium organizer James Hanley by either:Email: jhanley@adrian.edu Fax: 517.264.3181, Attention James Hanley USPS: James Hanley, Jones Hall, Adrian College, 110 S. Madison St. Adrian, MI. 49221. The Symposium website and registration form can be accessed at: http://www.adrian.edu/academics/policy_institute/commons.php

Symposium Panelists:

• Elinor Ostrom (Political Science): Co-Director, Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis.Elinor Ostrom is author of Governing the Commons, and one of the world’s leading experts in analyzing the commons. She is a past president of the American Political Science Association, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and has earned the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science, the James Madison Award of the American Political Science Association, and the William H. Riker Prize in political science.
• John Baden (Economics): Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment.John Baden is the founder and chair of the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment in Bozeman, Montana. He has received a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship in Environmental Policy, co-authored Managing the Commons with Garrett Hardin, served on the National Petroleum Council, and has served as president of the Association for Private Enterprise Education,
• Carl Bajema (Biology): Grand Valley State University.Carl Bajema is professor of evolution and environmental history at Grand Valley State University. He co-authored Biology: Their Birth, Life and Death with Garrett Hardin, and researches the environmental history of Michigan, focusing, inter alia, on deforestation and reforestation practices and the exploitation of terrestrial and aquatic animals.
• Esther Mwangi (Public Policy): Kennedy School of Government, Center for International Development, Harvard University. Esther Mwangi is a Giorgio Ruffolo Post-doctoral Fellow in Sustainability Science and a Ziff Environmental Fellow at Harvard’s Center for International Development. A winner of the 2005 Harold D. Lasswell Award, she has also been a Post-doctoral fellow with the International Food Policy Research Group working with the CGIAR System-Wide program on Collective Action and Property Rights, and was previously a consultant to the World Agroforesty Center and to OXFAM’s pastoralism program in East Africa, and was a Research Scientist with the Kenya Wildlife Service. Her research focuses on the effects of forest governance reforms on local economies and forest sustainability in East Africa and Latin America.
• Marty Anderies (Mathematics): Arizona State University.J. Marty Anderies is a mathematician with a joint appointment in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change and the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University. His research focuses on robust institutional design for coupled social-ecological systems, using mathematical modeling to analyze the factors that generate vulnerability or enhance resilience in such systems.
• Christopher Knapp (Philosophy): Binghamton University (SUNY).Christopher Knapp is assistant professor of philosophy at Binghamton University (SUNY). His research focuses on environmental ethics, metaethics, and philosophy of psychology. His latest publication is “Species Inegalitarianism as a Matter of Principle” forthcoming in the Journal of Applied Philosophy.
• Harlan Wilson (Political Science): Oberlin College.Harlan Wilson is professor of political science at Oberlin College. His research focuses on the intersection of environmental politics and theory with postmodern thought.
• Dan Cole (Law): Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis. Daniel H. Cole is the R. Bruce Townsend Professor of Law at the Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis. He has been a Visiting Scholar in the Faculty of Law and Department of Land Economy at the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on the law and economics of property, natural resources, and environmental protection, and his publications include Pollution and Property: Comparing Institutions for Environmental Protection.