Nature for Sale:
The Commons versus
Commodities

Giovanna Ricoveri

Foreword by Vandana Shiva

Out Now

PB / £14.99 / 9780745333700 / 215mm x 135mm  /  June 13

This book fills a gap, as it allows to understand the foundations for waging a survival struggle against an encroaching climate. It will help readers to penetrate the systematic nature of the war against Nature and it can be a very useful tool in strengthening the movements to stop the assault.

Saul Landau, Vice Chair of the Institute for Policy Studies, Berkeley

An historical-philosophical inquiry into an alternative route to the current devastating economic and social order. Written by one of the leading intellectuals of the Italian left, among the first in Europe to deal with political ecology issues.

Grazia Francescato, leading environmentalist and previous leader of the Italian Green Party

Nature for Sale uncovers the rich heritage of common ownership which existed before the dominance of capitalist property relations. Giovanna Ricoveri argues that the subsistence commons of the past can be reinvented today to provide an alternative to the current destructive economic order. 

Ricoveri outlines the distinct features of common ownership as it has existed in history: cooperation, sustainable use of natural resources and decision-making through direct democracy. In doing so, she shows how it is possible to provide goods and services which are not commodities exchanged on the capitalistic market, something still demonstrated today in village communities across the global South.

Tracing the erosion of the commons from the European enclosures at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution to the new enclosures of modern capitalism, the book concludes by arguing that a new commons is needed today. It will be essential reading for activists as well as students and academics in history, politics, economics and development studies.

Giovanna Ricoveri is a writer and activist. She is the author of a book on the commons in Italian, Beni comuni vs Merci (2010) and editor of Beni comuni tra tradizione e futuro (2005). She is the founding editor of Capitalismo Natura Socialismo, which is part of the international network Capitalism Nature Socialism.

For further information, to request a review copy or to speak to the author please contact Jon Wheatley at jonw@plutobooks.com or on 0208 374 6424