Vernacular governance: The tensions and contradictions of governing the commons

The recent theoretical and empirical expansion of the commons has provided important insights into its tensions with the wider political economy. An important element of this analysis has been the relationship between the commons and the state, which broadly has been seen as either in conflict or in support of the commons. With commoners seen as either beneficiaries or victims in the process, this strategic and statist perspective risks diminishing the everyday agency of those on the ground in the governance and management of common spaces. Building upon a relational approach to commons governance, the article considers the mundane and everyday practices of governing urban gardens, which are understood here as latent commons. Based on ethnographic fieldwork across three urban gardens in Cardiff, Wales, this article uses the concept of vernacular governance to critically explore gardeners’ everyday experiences of governing these common spaces, and the internal and external tensions, contradictions, and possibilities that arise in the process. These latent commons aren't seen through a strategic lens of democratisation and Political transformation, nor are they seen as a cog in a neoliberal political-economy. Vernacular governance instead reflects a grey area in commons governance, that validates the ways that gardeners struggle for their own reproduction and autonomy alongside and despite, but often vis-à-vis, a wider network of governance actors (including, but not exclusively, the state).