Rescuing the Economy of the Sea

The Blue Commons

A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST ECONOMICS BOOK OF 2022 
 
'A landmark book... The Blue Commons is at once a brilliant synthesis, a searing analysis, and an inspiring call to action.' - David Bollier 
 
'With remarkable erudition, passion and lyricism, Guy Standing commands the reader to wake up to the threat posed by rentier capitalism's violent policies for extraction, exploitation and depletion of that which is both common to us all, but also vital to our survival: the sea and all within it.' - Ann Pettifor 
 
'Shines a bright light on the economy of the oceans, directing us brilliantly towards where a sustainable future lies.' - Danny Dorling 
 
'This is a powerful, visionary book - essential reading for all who yearn for a better world.' - Jason Hickel 
 
The sea provides more than half the oxygen we breathe, food for billions of people and livelihoods for hundreds of millions. But giant corporations are plundering the world's oceans, aided by global finance and complicit states, following the neoliberal maxim of Blue Growth. The situation is dire: rampant exploitation and corruption now drive all aspects of the ocean economy, destroying communities, intensifying inequalities, and driving fish populations and other ocean life towards extinction. 
 
The Blue Commons is an urgent call for change, from a campaigning economist responsible for some of the most innovative solutions to inequality of recent times. From large nations bullying smaller nations into giving up eco-friendly fishing policies to the profiteering by the Crown Estate in commandeering much of the British seabed, the scale of the global problem is synthesised here for the first time, as well as a toolkit for all of us to rise up and tackle it. 
 
The oceans have been left out of calls for a Green New Deal but must be at the centre of the fight against climate change. How do we do it? By building a Blue Commons alternative: a transformative worldview and new set of proposals that prioritise the historic rights of local communities, the wellbeing of all people and, with it, the health of our oceans.

In this landmark book, Guy Standing not only documents how state-corporate collusion is destroying fragile ocean ecosystems, fisheries, and coastal communities. He explains how degrowth economics and fishery commons could restore the 'Blue Commons-Wealth' that belongs to all of us. The Blue Commons is at once a brilliant synthesis, a searing analysis, and an inspiring call to action

author of The Commoner’s Catalog for Changemaking

Shines a bright light on the economy of the oceans, directing us brilliantly towards where a sustainable future lies

Guy Standing writes with remarkable erudition, but also with passion and lyricism about the Blue Commons. He commands the reader to wake up to the threat posed by rentier capitalism's violent policies for extraction, exploitation and depletion of that which is both common to us all, but also vital to our survival: the sea and all within it. He offers radical and hopeful alternatives to the dominant economics for 'making a killing' from the commodification of nature - giving hope to the dedicated stewards of the seas - fishers and 'blue commoners' - but also to his readers

As capital sets its sights on the seas, our planet's final frontier, the struggle for the commons becomes all the more urgent. This is a powerful, visionary book - essential reading for all who yearn for a better world

A powerful indictment of all that has gone wrong with contemporary oceanic governance, and an inspiring account of how it can be put right. Guy Standing shows how local communities can turn the tide on neoliberal excess and put a vibrant and inclusive politics in its place

Looking out of my window at the radiant blue of the Aegean Sea, I surrender to the dream of a near future where Guy Standing's Blue Commons proposals have been implemented - an indispensable blue section of any genuine Green New Deal. It is a good dream, one that deserves a shot at infecting our sad reality

Standing makes an urgent case for a new politics of the ocean . . . For anyone who has watched a David Attenborough documentary and wished it made a clearer appeal for a change in ocean governance, this is the book for you

Guy Standing has held professorships at Bath, London and Monash universities, was a programme director in the UN's International Labour Organization and has advised many international bodies and governments on social and economic policies. He co-founded the Basic Income Earth Network and is now its co-president. He is author of the bestselling The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class (2011), Basic Income: And How We Can Make It Happen (2017) and Plunder of the Commons: A Manifesto for Sharing Public Wealth (2019).

The sea provides more than half the oxygen we breathe, food for billions of people and livelihoods for hundreds of millions. But giant corporations are plundering the world's oceans, aided by global finance and complicit states, following the neoliberal maxim of Blue Growth. The situation is dire: rampant exploitation and corruption now drive all aspects of the ocean economy, destroying communities, intensifying inequalities, and driving fish populations and other ocean life towards extinction. 
 
The Blue Commons is an urgent call for change, from a campaigning economist responsible for some of the most innovative solutions to inequality of recent times. From large nations bullying smaller nations into giving up eco-friendly fishing policies to the profiteering by the Crown Estate in commandeering much of the British seabed, the scale of the global problem is synthesized here for the first time, as well as a toolkit for all of us to rise up and tackle it. 
 
The oceans have been left out of calls for a Green New Deal but must be at the centre of the fight against climate change. How do we do it? By building a Blue Commons alternative: a transformative worldview and new set of proposals that prioritize the historic rights of local communities, the wellbeing of all people and, with it, the health of our oceans.

A Manifesto for Sharing Public Wealth

Plunder of the Commons

'One of the most important books I've read in years' Brian Eno 
 
We are losing the commons. Austerity and neoliberal policies have depleted our shared wealth; our national utilities have been sold off to foreign conglomerates, social housing is almost non-existent, our parks are cordoned off for private events and our national art galleries are sponsored by banks and oil companies. This plunder deprives us all of our common rights, recognized as far back as the Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest of 1217, to share fairly and equitably in our public wealth. 
 
Guy Standing leads us through a new appraisal of the commons, stemming from the medieval concept of common land reserved in ancient law from marauding barons, to his modern reappraisal of the resources we all hold in common - a brilliant new synthesis that crystallises quite how much public wealth has been redirected to the 1% in recent decades through the state-approved exploitation of everything from our land to our state housing, health and benefit systems, to our justice system, schools, newspapers and even the air we breathe. Plunder of the Commons proposes a charter for a new form of commoning, of remembering, guarding and sharing that which belongs to us all, to slash inequality and soothe our current political instability.

Brilliant, insightful, terse, apposite, daring, and transformative. A must read to understand both the past and the future

Danny Dorling, author of All That Is Solid

Guy Standing brings great historical knowledge, political insight, and passion to documenting the market enclosures of our common wealth: the great unacknowledged scourge of our time. Plunder of the Commons is both a troubling exposé and a practical-minded call to reclaim the commons for ourselves and posterity. Sitting politicians will ignore this stirring book at their peril. Incoming reformers will learn how we might transform our predatory system of economics and the complicit political culture.

David Bollier, Director of the Reinventing the Commons Program at the Schumacher Center for a New Economics and author of Free, Fair and Alive: The Insurgent Power of the Commons

In an era of intensifying privatisation, we're rapidly losing sight of the idea that there are things that can be shared communally without being owned by anybody, things that stand outside of the market system - for example rivers, forests, and other natural resources. Many of them have already been sold off to private interests, and most of the rest are being pursued. This incendiary book exposes this process and explores its corrosive effect on society and resource maintenance. 
 
This clear and radical exposition is a call for the defence of the commons, and one of the most important books I've read in years.

In this majestic work, Guy Standing not only chronicles the historic plundering of our common wealth.  More importantly, he shows how we can reclaim that wealth to address our most urgent contemporary problems: economic insecurity and ecological destruction.  This is history, analysis and vision, all at their very best.

Standing not only wants to remind us how much common land in Britain has been enclosed by the wealthy few. His vision of the commons is extremely capacious...his provocation could hardly be timelier

We are losing the commons. Austerity and neoliberal policies have depleted our shared wealth; our national utilities have been sold off to foreign conglomerates, social housing is almost non-existent, our parks are cordoned off for private events and our national art galleries are sponsored by banks and oil companies. This plunder deprives us all of our common rights, recognized as far back as the Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest of 1217, to share fairly and equitably in our public wealth. 
 
Guy Standing leads us through a new appraisal of the commons, stemming from the medieval concept of common land reserved in ancient law from marauding barons, to his modern reappraisal of the resources we all hold in common - a brilliant new synthesis that crystallises quite how much public wealth has been redirected to the 1% in recent decades through the state-approved exploitation of everything from our land to our state housing, health and benefit systems, to our justice system, schools, newspapers and even the air we breathe. Plunder of the Commons proposes a charter for a new form of commoning, of remembering, guarding and sharing that which belongs to us all, to slash inequality and soothe our current political instability.

And How We Can Make It Happen

Basic Income

'Basic Income is an idea whose time has come, and Guy Standing has pioneered our understanding of it... Standing's analysis is vital' Paul Mason 
 
'Guy Standing has been at the forefront of the movement for nearly 4 decades, and in this superb and thorough survey he explains how it works and why it has the potential to revitalise life and democracy in our societies. This is an essential book.' Brian Eno 
 
Shouldn't everyone receive a stake in society's wealth? 
Could we create a fairer world by granting a guaranteed income to all? 
What would this mean for our health, wealth and happiness? 
 
Basic Income is a regular cash transfer from the state, received by all individual citizens. It is an acknowledgement that everyone plays a part in generating the wealth currently enjoyed only by a few. Political parties across the world are now adopting it as official policy and the idea generates headlines every day. Guy Standing has been at the forefront of thought about Basic Income for the past thirty years, and in this book he covers in authoritative detail its effects on the economy, poverty, work and labour; dissects and disproves the standard arguments against Basic Income; explains what we can learn from pilots across the world and illustrates exactly why a Basic Income has now become such an urgent necessity.

Basic Income is an idea whose time has come, and Guy Standing has pioneered our understanding of it - not just of the concept but of the challenges it is designed to meet: rapid automation and the emergence of a precarious workforce for whom wages derived from work will never be enough. As we move into an age where work and leisure become blurred, and work dissociated from incomes, Standing's analysis is vital.

Guy Standing's work in this area has been invaluable...I would urge all parliamentarians to pore over his findings and consider his conclusions

Praise for The Precariat: 'A very important book' Noam Chomsky. 'Buy Guy Standing's book, The Precariat. Or nick / borrow it' John Harris,

In Basic Income, Guy Standing provides a compelling and thoughtful review of the motivations and options for as well as common objections to universal basic income, making this an important book for anyone interested in ensuring we collectively create an inclusive, human-centered future

Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum

This is a compelling and thoughtful book that looks into the case for a universal basic income. 
Guy Standing tackles the history behind basic income by presenting economic, financial, technological, and medical studies that give us a glimpse about what a world with basic income might look like. 
 
 Economic inequality and ending poverty are some of the defining issues of our time, Standing's book lays out a future.

For a radical idea to become accepted as common sense, it often needs a practical guide to the concept and its implementation. This book makes a significant contribution to the heavy lifting needed to move basic income from an idea on the periphery to a policy of the mainstream in a rapidly changing and challenging economy

Universal Basic Income may be the most promising social idea of our time. Guy Standing has been at the forefront of the movement for nearly 4 decades, and in this superb and thorough survey he explains how it works and why it has the potential to revitalise life and democracy in our societies. This is an essential book.

A universal basic income is clearly an idea whose time has come. Guy Standing's book powerfully explains why and also makes the ethical and ecological case. It's an essential read for anyone interested in social and economic justice and an important contribution to the debate about introducing a basic income.

Guy Standing co-founded the Basic Income Earth Network and now serves as its honorary co-President. He has held professorships at the University of Bath and at SOAS, was programme director at the International Labour Organisation and has advised the UN, World Bank and governments around the world on labour and social policy. He is the author of the bestselling The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class (2011) and is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.

Shouldn't everyone receive a stake in society's wealth? 
Could we create a fairer world by granting a guaranteed income to all? 
What would this mean for our health, wealth and happiness? 
 
A basic income is a regular cash transfer from the state, received by all individual citizens. It is an acknowledgement that everyone plays a part in generating the wealth currently enjoyed only by a few. Political parties across the world are now adopting it as official policy and the idea generates headlines every day. Guy Standing has been at the forefront of thought about Basic Income for the past thirty years, and in this book he covers in authoritative detail its effects on the economy, poverty, work and labour; dissects and disproves the standard arguments against basic income; explains what we can learn from pilot studies across the world and illustrates exactly why a basic income has now become such an urgent necessity.

The Tragedy of the Education Commons

Human Capital

Guy Standing

Guy Standing's books have, over the years, pieced together a necessary political and intellectual agenda for defending commons that are still standing, for re-commoning realms that privatisation has wrecked, for liberating workers from the morality of pious drudgery and, most importantly, for introducing a progressive version of basic income for all. His Politics of Time is a splendid and timely addition to this body of important work

Urgent and forensic, Guy Standing’s examination of our relationship with time is a not just an historical tour de force but a passionate call to action. His compelling arguments for a new progressive politics of time which reclaims time for commoning – shared and collaborative activity for the common good - culminate in an exhilarating final chapter setting out a practical manifesto for a Progressive Alliance Government.   This is required reading for anyone concerned with how to build a better future

With his trademark panache, Guy Standing presents us with a whistlestop tour of time that is both enlightening, and in its current implications, frightening, until the final chapter!

Innovative and thought-provoking as always, Guy Standing's insights into how time is a deeply politicized and unequally distributed resource make compelling reading

Why should &ldquo;industrial time,&rdquo; or labourism, dominate our lives, sowing stress, alienation, and mental illness, when we could live richer, more satisfying and integrated lives as commoners?  Guy Standing has performed a great service in writing this political history of our experience of time. With clarity and rigor, he explains how capital has structured our time and culture &ndash; and how commoning in its many forms could emancipate our lives, consciousness, and communities

A thrilling and radical manifesto which seeks to rehabilitate the ancient Greek concept of schole (or purposeful leisure) for a new age

Gaining Control in the Age of Uncertainty

Time has always been political. Throughout history, how we use our time has been defined and controlled by the powerful, and today is no exception. But we can reclaim control, and in this book, the pioneering economist Guy Standing shows us how. 
 
The ancient Greeks organized time into five categories: work, labour, recreation, leisure and contemplation. Labour was onerous, while the keys to a good life were self-chosen work and leisure (schole), which included participation in public life and lifelong education. Yet now our jobs are supposed to provide all meaning in life, our time outside labour is considered simply 'time off', and politicians prioritize jobs above all else. 
 
Today, we are experiencing the age of chronic uncertainty. Stress and mental illness are on the rise as more and more time is being stolen from us in myriad ways, particularly from the vulnerable and those in the precariat. 
 
But there is a way forward. We can create a new politics of time, one that liberates us and helps save the planet, through strengthening real leisure and working on shared endeavours through commoning. We can retake control of our time, but we must do it together.

Guy Standing

Praise for The Politics of Time

Guy Standing's books have, over the years, pieced together a necessary political and intellectual agenda for defending commons that are still standing, for re-commoning realms that privatisation has wrecked, for lib ...

Urgent and forensic, Guy Standing’s examination of our relationship with time is a not just an historical tour de force but a passionate call to action. His compelling arguments for a new progressive politics of tim ...

With his trademark panache, Guy Standing presents us with a whistlestop tour of time that is both enlightening, and in its current implications, frightening, until the final chapter!

Guy Standing's books have, over the years, pieced together a necessary political and intellectual agenda for defending commons that are still standing, for re-commoning realms that privatisation has wrecked, for lib ...

Urgent and forensic, Guy Standing’s examination of our relationship with time is a not just an historical tour de force but a passionate call to action. His compelling arguments for a new progressive politics of tim ...

With his trademark panache, Guy Standing presents us with a whistlestop tour of time that is both enlightening, and in its current implications, frightening, until the final chapter!

Guy Standing's books have, over the years, pieced together a necessary political and intellectual agenda for defending commons that are still standing, for re-commoning realms that privatisation has wrecked, for lib ...

Urgent and forensic, Guy Standing’s examination of our relationship with time is a not just an historical tour de force but a passionate call to action. His compelling arguments for a new progressive politics of tim ...

With his trademark panache, Guy Standing presents us with a whistlestop tour of time that is both enlightening, and in its current implications, frightening, until the final chapter!

Books by Guy Standing

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