Abstract

In this weaving of radical political economy, Omnia Sunt Communia sets out the steps to postcapitalism. By conceptualising the commons not just as common goods but as a set of social systems, Massimo De Angelis shows their pervasive presence in everyday life, mapping out a strategy for total social transformation.

From the micro to the macro, De Angelis unveils the commons as fields of power relations – shared space, objects, subjects – that explode the limits of daily life under capitalism. He exposes attempts to co-opt the commons, through the use of code words such as 'participation' and 'governance', and reveals the potential for radical transformation rooted in the reproduction of our communities, of life, of work and of society as a whole.

'An extraordinary new book.'
CounterPunch
‘De Angelis does for the commons in this book what Marx did for capitalism in Capital. Omnia Sunt Communia will be indispensable to scholars and activists grappling with the most important question of our time: what system, if any, should follow the end of capitalism?’
George Caffentzis, author of In Letters of Blood and Fire: Work, Machines, and the Crisis of Capitalism

'An ambitious and path-breaking work. While he introduces us to the main theorists of the commons, De Angelis also explores new ground. It makes for a powerful and challenging book that all educators and activists in movements for social justice should read.’
Silvia Federici, author of Revolution at Point Zero: Housework, Reproduction, and Feminist Struggle

‘Carefully argued and with a wealth of profound examples, this book is at once expansively curious and politically urgent. De Angelis does justice to the complex heat and light of the commons: our hidden past, our living present and our potential future.’
Max Haiven, author of Crises of Imagination, Crises of Power

‘As the crises of neoliberal capitalism deepen, Massimo De Angelis offers us a sweeping framework for understanding how commons can provide practical pathways for political and social emancipation. Timely, insightful and hopeful.’
David Bollier, author of Think Like a Commoner

'De Angelis has applied his considerable academic understanding to his practical experience of communing to advance a critical conversation on social change.'
Green Left Weekly

Massimo De Angelis is professor of political economy at the University of East London, and founder and editor of the web journal The Commoner (www.thecommoner.org). His previous books include The Beginning of History (2007).