Institutional Entrepreneurship in a Contested Commons: Insights from Struggles Over the Oasis of Jemna in Tunisia
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Institutional Entrepreneurship in a Contested Commons: Insights from Struggles Over the Oasis of Jemna in Tunisia Karim Ben‑Slimane1 · Rachida Justo2 · Nabil Khelil3 Received: 17 December 2018 / Accepted: 10 August 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Recently, management literature has sought to examine the role of institutional entrepreneurs in the emergence of commons logic and in building consensus around its meaning. While the focus has been on new commons, not all are created ex nihilo. Some types of preexisting commons, known as contested commons, often pose challenges that result in disagreements and conflicts with respect to their ownership, use, and management. These commons are a ubiquitous yet understudied phenomenon. In this paper, we use the case of the Tunisian Oasis of Jemna, pictured against the historical backdrop of the Arab Spring, to look at the institutional struggles that involve institutional entrepreneurs and the opponents of a contested commons. We identify two main strategies used by institutional entrepreneurs to frame the commons as a superior alternative: idealizing the commons and coalescing the community to harness its potential. We also highlight the heretofore neglected role of opponents, who engage in demonizing the commons to restore the competing logics of state or market. Finally, we unravel some of the conditions that allow for a temporary settlement of the contest, leading to what we term de facto commons. Keywords Social construction of commons · Contested commons · Institutional entrepreneurship · Tunisia
Introduction In recent years, crises in capitalism have fueled a renewed interest in commons (Peredo et al. 2018). Scholars increasingly consider commons as an alternative to neo-liberalism for creating wealth (Akrivou and Sison 2016) and addressing pressing social and environmental issues (Ratten and Welpe Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-020-04601-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Rachida Justo [email protected] Karim Ben‑Slimane [email protected] Nabil Khelil [email protected] 1
ISC Paris, 22 bd du Fort de Vaux, 75017 Paris, France
2
IE University, Calle Alvarez de Baena 4, 28006 Madrid, Spain
3
Center for Research in Economics and Management, Université de Caen Normandie, Esplanade de la Paix, 14032 Caen, France
2011). New kinds of commons are also emerging; ones that are not necessarily tied to natural resources (Ostrom 2002) but are rather the product of social construction around digital, creative, or cultural artifacts or issues (e.g., Meyer and Hudon 2017). From a theoretical standpoint, this has given rise to an institutional perspective of commons (Ansari et al. 2013) that explores how commons logic emerge and how individuals come to agreements about considering a given resource or artifact as a commons. It also points to the strategic role that an institutional entrepreneur (IE) may play in
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