Exploring the strategies in creating and sustaining commons : organization, mobilization, and tactics in the Hong Kong context

After experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic, social unrest, and the migration wave in the post-2019 era, Hong Kong has undergone a rapid change in its social context. Facing the multifaceted aspects and complexities in the new context, this thesis hopes to explore the possibility of commons and commoning - a pluralistic concept that encompasses a set of principles for social practices in making a more inclusive society - to be a potential alternative, or at least a kind of hope mechanism to enhance people’s well-being amid the current predicament. Drawing on the seminal literature of Elinor Ostrom, J. K. Gibson-Graham, and Erik Olin Wright, through conducting participatory action research in i-COMMON HK - a social innovation platform that promotes the ideas of commons -, and having case studies on its extended cases, this research has (re)examined the internal mechanisms for operating a common, and explored the strategies for mobilizing people in making collective actions. The contribution of this research can unfold in three ways. Theoretically, this research has (re)organized the theoretical conceptions of commons systematically and constructed a framework for understanding the commons in the contemporary context. Contextually, this research has argued commons could be a potential solution for improving people's well-being, or even transforming the problematic institution in a broader context. Operationally, this research has also attempted to bring academic theories into practice and identify the forces and tactics that could be utilized when initiating new common actions.