Inspiratie uit ons institutionele geheugen. Instituties voor collectieve actie als structurele oplossingen voor sociale dilemma's in het Europese verleden

Abstract

In this article, I demonstrate how in the European past social dilemmas were solved, in particular by the setting-up of institutions for collective action. Such institutions are developed and governed by the stakeholders – farmers, craftsmen, …- themselves and have played a major role in the social and economic history of in particular Western Europe. Their popularity in this area from the late medieval period onwards was possible mainly because of the absence of a central authority and of a goodfunction market at the time. Considering the current failure of both state and market to address many societal and economic problems, it should be no surprise that citizens today revert back to this type of institution, as becomes visible in the many forms of resource sharing and collective economic initiatives.