Abstract: We propose an institutional analysis, based on a field research, of an emergent French initiative called Terre de Liens (TdL) that intends to take out agricultural lands from the speculative market, contributes to their de-commodification and governs them as a commons. We will wonder to what extent TdL may turn agricultural lands into a commons, following Elinor Ostrom’s definition. We will underline the fact that the divergences come from a too centralized organization and the lack of rules and sanctions decided locally. Secondly, we will discuss the possibility to go beyond these limits to think about an organization closer to the Ostrom’s principles, based on the study of a regional experimentation. We will conclude that the interest of TdL may not be to lead itself an alternative governance of the lands but open a public debate between civil society and local governments about the desirable statute of agricultural lands for a post-growth society.
Keywords: commons, de-commodification of nature, experimentation
Narrative step: strategies for transformation

There is no paper for this media entry. This was a contribution to a scientific session at the 4th International Degrowth Conference in Leipzig in 2014, which doesn't exist in written format or is not published under open access.