In this book, Elinor Ostrom examines the dismal "tragedy of the commons" argument that is so widely accepted and frequently used to advocate for private ownership as a mechanism to "protect" common pool resources (and other types of resources).

For this purpose, she presents real life case studies of both successful and failed attempts to utilize common pool resources by multiple actors, and showing how they do not fit the simple theoretical models of the "rational" actor with perfect information that leads inevitably to the tragedy of the commons. She then attempts to define a theoretical framework for models to analyze CPRs more accurately, taking into account the complexities of reality and a more nuanced characterization of human behaviour.

All in all it felt to me like Elinor Ostrom was awarded the Nobel prize in Economics because she reminded economists that humans aren't simply greedy, omniscient, homogeneous monsters who will blindly maximize their own benefit at any cost to others or the environment, but rather varied beings with a spectrum of intentions, and with the capacity to think ahead, act strategically, and even sometimes cooperate to solve their common problems.

I read this book looking for analyses of different ways to organize in federations, and to govern without individual property. I didn't really get what I signed up for, but I got something equally interesting and very related: a systematic study that indicates that yes, even the social sciences agree that people can sometimes organize and accomplish remarkable things.