Introduction or preface

Outlines some research perspectives on commons. A first line of research is within economic history. This is the most established because it was inspired by the debate on the effect of English enclosures and their role in the agricultural revolution. More recently, the study of commons has been influenced by neo-institutional research dealing with systems that can ensure efficient and sustainable resource management. A second line of research has been developed by Italian historians since the early 1980s, with a predominant focus on social history. Finally, a third line has placed more attention on the ecological dimension of common resources through the two different perspectives of environmental history and historical ecology.