6. Governance, Commoning and the Unequal Terms of Recognition

To grasp the polycentric governance of a nexus of common goods, in Chapter 6 Tom de Herdt and Denis Augustin Samnick focus on reflexive governance and the rule-setting processes that control commoning practice. There is a multiplicity here that is unavoidable, with each common good having its own dynamic and its own rule setting. However, based on the results of Ultimatum Game experiments, they suggest that recognition and ‘cognitive empathy’ appear as key aspects of a governance of commons within a set of institutions. Yet, following Sandel’s civic approach and the notion of commoning, they shift from the question of which entitlements governance should secure to the question of how citizens secure entitlements and who participates in these processes. They identify voice and accountability mechanisms as key features of an indicator of nexus governance.