Dear Colleagues,
We invite you to submit your work to our Special Issue - Commons at a new frontier: Opening new avenues for research in business and society
For details, please look at this link: https://journals.sagepub.com/pb-assets/cmscontent/BAS/CFP%20BAS%20Commons%20SI%20Proposal%20FINAL-2-1730152109.pdf
Submission deadline: 31st October 2025
Guest Editors
· Tina Dacin, Queen's University, Canada
· Camille Meyer, University of Cape Town, South Africa
· Mustafa Ozbilgin, Brunel University London, United Kingdom
· Maxim Voronov, York University, Canada
· Eugenia Xing, Shandong University of Finance and Economics, China
This special issue aims to set a new agenda and open new avenues for research on commons in business and society. While the scope of the issue is broad, covering different facets of commons in business and society, here are some illustrative themes and questions:
Integrating and Promoting Commons in Businesses, Governments, and Communities
- How do businesses, governments, and communities integrate and protect commons?
- How do businesses, governments, and communities understand their impacts (both positive and negative) on commons?
- How do businesses, governments, and communities balance short-term profit with long-term commons preservation?
- How can partnerships between businesses, governments, and communities scale commons?
- How can commons be integrated into the delivery of public services?
Negotiating Commons in Business and Society
- How do communities, businesses, and governments negotiate commons for the common good?
- How do different stakeholders adjust perspectives and visions of commons?
- How do power asymmetries impact the negotiation and sharing of commons?
- How do socio-economic inequalities influence access to and sharing of commons at the local, national, and international levels?
- How are commons-related conflicts resolved?
Exploring the New Frontiers of Commons Enclosure and Resistance
- To what extent, and how, do emerging forms of corporate and state control lead to new forms of commons enclosure and privatization?
- What forms of resistance to commons enclosure are emerging, and how are they organized?
- How are commons transformed into private property?
- How can governments, civil society, and NGOs protect and preserve commons from market enclosure and privatization?
- How can new forms of protection guarantee benefit-sharing with communities?
- How do businesses and governments establish compensation mechanisms linked to commons destruction?
Revisiting Commons with Inclusive and Relational Perspectives
- How are commons valued in different societies?
- How does culture influence individual and collective lived experiences of commons?
- How do relational and cultural approaches to commons translate into new laws and corporate practices?
- How can we reconsider the divide between humans, nature, and technology in the conceptualization and governance of commons?
- How are commons lived and negotiated by Indigenous peoples?
- How can businesses and governments learn from Indigenous perspectives on commons?
This special issue seeks to advance our understanding of commons by exploring these and other questions, contributing to the development of innovative theories and practices in business and society.
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Camille Meyer
Senior Lecturer
University of Cape Town
Cape Town
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