ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the Common and commons are far from being a new enclave that would simply complement the traditional representation of the economy based on the public—private dyad, contrary to what Ostromian neo-institutionalist approaches seem to suggest. It presents the key role that the development production of humans for and by humans of the welfare of humans have played, through an eminently conflicting process, both in the training of the productive forces of a knowledge-based economy (KBE) and in the emergence of institutions of the Common. The institutions of the welfare state present themselves as key pieces at stake in the development of a KBE and the contradictory relationship that the public, private, and common spheres maintain in this framework. The chapter discusses the extension of the commons of information and knowledge. The entire history of the development of a KBE and the information evolution itself is an illustration of the crucial aspect.
