Liminal Commons: Modern Rituals of Transition in Greece - Hardcover

by Angelos Varvarousis (Author)

This book is the first attempt to rethink and appraise the role of temporary commoning experiences that develop in contexts of crisis. Activist and urban planner, Angelos Varvarousis, argues that there is a certain type of commons - the liminal commons - which despite their often short lives play a crucial function in contemporary societies; they demarcate and facilitate transitions at the individual, collective and ultimately the societal level.

Through an intense exploration of grassroots projects such as occupied squares, self-organised refugee camps, solidarity food structures and social clinics in crisis-ridden Greece, the author observes that humans still invent such collectively performed rituals in order to prepare, symbolize and practically explore the possibility of transformation and transition. In a period in which traditional rites of passage have faded away but many changes are urgently needed, liminal commons can be a key element in the process of claiming awareness and control over the mechanisms of individual, collective and societal emancipation.

Author Biography

Angelos Varvarousis an urban planner, researcher, and activist. He is an academic lecturer at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and his research interests revolve around alternative lifestyles, the study of the commons, solidarity economies, and degrowth. He has worked for international institutions such as the British Council, the European Commission and the Oslo Architecture Triennale 2019, and is currently employed by the Onassis Cultural Center as researcher and curator.