Commons, New Enclosures, and Popular Political Economy

This paper discusses the growing importance that the so-called "commons" are gaining in the sphere of cultural creation. To do so, it critically analyses two important analogies that have appeared during the recent years: the first one, between the "natural" and "digital commons", and the second, between the "old" and the "new digital enclosures". The paper demonstrates that their similitudes are prominent, although both comparisons have to be carefully studied. The main goal is to present the "digital commons" as those devices capable to shape a sort of "Popular political economy of pro-common". Throughout a double approach (the technical-legal and the political-economical one), the paper highlights the need to have an institutional environment robust enough to prevent the effects of new enclosures in contemporary creation and the dissemination of culture.