Understanding the Southern Italian commons: polycentric governance on the mountains of Sila

Abstract

In this article, I examine patterns of collective action in the South of Italy, a region where commons scholarship presents several challenges, mainly due to its feudal heritage. In analysing the history of Southern Italian commons, Elinor Ostrom's theories on polycentric governance are adopted. I propose a case study on the mountains of Sila, where collective action was institutionalised through a municipal organisation known as universitas casalium, consisting of the city of Cosenza and its hamlets. This institution collaborated with the royal government, creating a polycentric governance system where institutional functions contentiously intermingled, generating conflicting relations, but also unique governmental arrangements. Yet how did previous historical interpretations miss this point? Documentary evidence provides a clear answer: while the institutional recognition of the universitas casalium can be traced back as far as the twelfth century, a series of institutional reforms initiated in the mid-fifteenth century led to the progressive decline of the local institution and accordingly of the commons economy related to it. This loss of legitimacy derived from the emergence of feudal barons and later of landowners from the middle class, leading to the progressive dissolution of collective action in Sila as Italy moved towards Italian unification in 1861.

Collective Properties of Trentino: From Traditional Competences to Modern Solution Providers

“…The first half of the 19th century was marked by the Austrian Empire's centralization of state authority, accelerated by the Napoleonic Wars [37]. The result was the modernization of the feudal structure inherited from the Holy Roman Empire.…”

“…It is precisely in these mountainous territories, far from the large urban centers, that we find an intense concentration of collective properties under many names: Consorterie (Valle d'Aosta) [32], Consortili (Piemonte) [33], Magnifiche Comunità (Trentino 4 , Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto), Consorzi vicinali (Friulian Alps) [34], Vicinie (Lombardy) [35], Comunalie (Parma Apennines), Regole (Belluno and Vicenza Alps, Trentino) and the more recent Trentino ASUC 5 (Figure 2). Nevertheless, the plains and hilly territories, especially those in Central Italy, also host various collective properties linked to agricultural use, such as the Università agrarie (Lazio, Abruzzo), the Partecipanze (Emilia and Romagna plains) and the Comunanze (Marche, Umbria) [36,37]. Università agrarie (Lazio, Abruzzo), the Partecipanze (Emilia and Romagna plains) and the Comunanze (Marche, Umbria) [36,37].…”

“…Nevertheless, the plains and hilly territories, especially those in Central Italy, also host various collective properties linked to agricultural use, such as the Università agrarie (Lazio, Abruzzo), the Partecipanze (Emilia and Romagna plains) and the Comunanze (Marche, Umbria) [36,37]. Università agrarie (Lazio, Abruzzo), the Partecipanze (Emilia and Romagna plains) and the Comunanze (Marche, Umbria) [36,37]. An interesting fact concerns the agricultural area precisely classified as collective property, which in the last decade (2010-2020), according to the Italian Institute for Statistics (ISTAT), has decreased from 4.7% to 3.8% of the total area, that is, 482.000 hectares 6 .…”