Literature review: Plunder of the Commons by Guy Standing’

Guy Standing, a Professorial Research Associate at the London University who has written extensively about migration, development economics, and labor markets, is probably best known for his two books The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class (2011) and Basic Income: And How We Can Make It Happen (2017). While the two books are united by an interest in how work is becoming increasingly more unstable and insecure, and how increasing levels of poverty and inequality can be overcome, his newest book Plunder of the Commons: A Manifesto for Sharing Public Wealth (published 2019 by Verso), blends seamlessly into his previous oeuvre by exploring the potential of the commons and commoning as an antidote against the erosion of society. Specifically, the book takes a close look at the Magna Carta, and especially at the lesser known Charter of the Forest, to recover a historical sensitivity for how citizens in Britain were granted the right to access and use common land, forests and water to lead a self-defined and dignified life.