So-Called ‘Commons’ on Nicholson St, Coburg: A Response

Dear Hyper Bowler,

Yep, you got me. The lovely little piece of paradise on Nicholson St, which has brought many an eggplant, tomato or smile to thousands of passers-by, it seems, is the same patch of ground which has so deeply offended you. For this, I am deeply sorry.

I agree with you that the ‘Nicholson Commons’ is not, in the strictest of terms, actually a true ‘commons’. A true commons, as you point out, is a shared resource that is owned, managed and governed in common, usually by a community of people with a shared interest in the resource. In fact, the Nicholson Commons is almost an extension of private property, as it is managed privately and arguably, for private gain.

But Hyper Bowler’s theoretical interpretation of the commons misses the spirit that the act of commoning is intended to engender. At its core, the commons movement seeks to fundamentally challenge private property as a concept, demonstrating its inefficiencies, injustices, violence and inequality. I would argue that seeding small germs of resistance by encouraging people to rethink how their streets are used (or not used), can only be helpful for the broader project of bringing down capitalism by deconstructing its core institution (private property).

Commons theorist Silvia Federici (look her up) has written extensively on the concept of the commons as a key tool in challenging capitalist relations, redistributing resources, creating community, and breaking down neoliberal individualism. Under capitalism, labour is divided along gendered lines. Men do the ‘productive’ labour like building, selling, making and buying things in exchange for a wage. This work is done in the public realm and is highly visible in society. ‘Women’s work’, on the other hand, is the ‘unproductive’ labour of social reproduction which is done for FREE! – rearing kids, cooking, cleaning etc.

To Federici, de-privatising domestic labour by bringing it out of the privacy of the home, is a key part of the process of ‘demystifying’ women’s work and challenging its devalued status. Further, the act of conducting domestic work in the public realm, is more conducive to this work being done collectively, rather than individually, helping to create communal bonds and solidarity amongst women – a basic foundation for any successful political resistance to patriarchy.

Beyond the theory, I can attest to the seeds of community, solidarity, and humourous interactions that the Nicholson Commons has created. Many of the relationships with my neighbours have been borne out of the curiosity and interest that the garden has roused. One day, when I was saving the seed of my expired basil plants, I got chatting to my passing neighbour, Prunella, about what I was doing. We talked about gardening, we exchanged ideas, then I gave her some basil seeds to sow next year. Today we exchange olives, cups of tea, and compost. The seed of our relationship literally sprouted from the Nicholson Commons.

Also, the act of commoning in physically challenging places like a Category 1 Road Zone, is one way to expand one’s horticultural skills. Harvesting roadside broccoli in peak hour is a truly exhilarating and terrifying experience – there’s nothing sweeter than the taste of self-grown broccoli picked from the jaws of death, narrowly avoiding your own decapitation in front of a speeding semi-trailer.

So, Hyper Bowler (or maybe you’d prefer Hyper Angry?), if you are so upset by my community project, maybe you should come round for that cup of tea so we can plan for its removal? To make it a true ‘commoning’ project, I suggest you bring your mates, I’ll summon my neighbours, and we’ll commence the process of bulldozing the garden (including all radishes, broccoli, lettuces, beans, peas and kohlrabies which I was intending to gift to my neighbours), filling it with concrete (collectively mixed of course), and covering it with Astroturf. Perhaps after this collective destruction, the Commons Police will issue a permit allowing for the continued erection of the ‘Nicholson Commons’ signage, to which this semantic kerfuffle centres upon. But that ironically sounds like a capitalistic, bureaucratic process to me.

Uncommonly perturbed,

C Mantec