tragedy of the commons
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Reportedly coined in 1968 by U.S. ecologist Garrett Hardin.
Noun[edit]
tragedy of the commons (plural tragedies of the commons)
- (ecology, economics, politics, social criticism) A situation in which unmanaged use of a shared resource (such as the atmosphere or an ocean) by a number of participants results in the unintended ruin or total consumption of that resource.
- 1995 May 7, Timothy Egan, “Let the Owner Beware”, in New York Times, retrieved 4 July 2012:
- One theory, known as the tragedy of the commons, holds that people will exploit and abuse something in which they have no ownership stake.
- 2010 November 18, “Troubles as deep as the oceans lie ahead”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 4 July 2012:
- Overfishing is the classic tragedy of the commons. Since no single nation "owns" the high seas, they exploit it without restraint and without thought to sustainability.
- 2012 April 18, Richard Stengel, “Editor's Letter: A World of Possibilities”, in Time[1], archived from the original on 4 February 2013:
- The economist Elinor Ostrom, who is on our list this year, has written about the tragedy of the commons, which is the idea that self-interest can undermine the common good.
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
tragedy of the commons
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See also[edit]
References[edit]
- “tragedy of the commons”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.