ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to set the theoretical framework for this collection by challenging the established, liberal understanding of property. Second, it presents a theoretical overview of piracy. The chapter addresses how a better understanding of the commons allows to problematise the concept of property, which, as this collection highlights, is continuously destabilised through acts of 'piracy'. It discusses the process of enclosure not as an isolated act, but as part of an ideology that prioritises private ownership over the common good. The concept of the commons can be traced back to ancient Rome with discussions of the Res Communes. The immaterial conceptualisation spreads into the 'information commons' that has had a particular political impact in the copyright debates that emerged since the late 1990s. In response to the invisible and 'natural' processes of enclosure, the chpater debates that both the existence and reciprocated exchange of the commons is fundamental in the functioning of authentic and vibrant communities.
