WHEN
WHERE
Nairobi, Kenya
SOCIAL
#IASC2023
XIX Biennial IASC Conference
'The Commons We Want: Between Historical Legacies and Future Collective Actions'
The IASC has been shaping the debate on alternative development pathways by way of putting the commons center stage. In times of profound crises, we have seen states being caught up in emergency mode. This unfolds, among others, in a tendency to respond within national borders, and it has brought the importance of building genuine resilience that leaves no one behind.
In all its diversity, the African continent is particularly exposed to shocks, and the risk of losing decades of development accomplishments is conspicuous. Therefore, in the context of the pandemic, building resilience for a broad range of society has become ever more pertinent, but the framework conditions to do so remain under-discussed. The global IASC conference will open up a space to mobilize this very debate. Taking place at the University of Nairobi, but co-organized with Centre for Integrated Training and Research in ASAL Development CETRAD, the University of Bern (Institute of Social Anthropology ISA, Centre for Development and Environment CDE), and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute Swiss TPH, Basel, Switzerland) and the Swiss Society for African Studies (SSAS), the discourse on commons and commoning will be prominently staged so as to broadly explore the contributions of the concept of the commons to build resilience in and beyond crises.
The conference provides a much-needed link to future-oriented research and practice perspective with a look back, since many legal and structural legacies predetermine possible development pathways. This reflection shall help to position the commons debate in the context of the Agenda 2030 and contribute to making the transformation towards the SDGs a more commons-oriented and participatory endeavor.

Frequently Asked Questions
Please get in touch with Lilian Namuma S. Kongani at lnamuma@uonbi.ac.ke and provide the following information:
- Your Name (as it appears in your passport)
- Your affiliation
- If you are a Panel Chair: your panel title
- If you are a Panel participant, provide your paper abstract title referencing the panel you are in.
- The National Identification Card of authorised persons from the co-hosting institution in Kenya and
- A Registration Certificate of a co-host institution in Kenya.
The XIX Biennial IASC conference is mainly an in-person conference. We have learned during and after COVID that online conferences have many disadvantages regarding limited communication and that meeting in person creates a much better scientific exchange. In addition, the decision to hold the conference in Nairobi was essential to the organizing committee, also from a decolonizing perspective. If it is impossible for you to attend the conference in person for specific reasons, we offer a hybrid solution in exceptional cases. If this is the case, please get in touch with us (lnamuma@uonbi.ac.ke) and your Panel Chair and give us a short statement explaining the reasons (e.g., family issues, costs, competing schedules, etc.).
We will then make sure that we can find a solution for you via online participation.
There is no registration reduction for online participants.
No. Conference participants are not expected to submit a full paper. A 15-minute presentation based on the paper abstract is expected.
In case you have received all the documents for your visa but are still facing trouble, please contact Lilian (lnamuma@uonbi.ac.ke). If it is still not working, you might try the option to get a simple tourist visa, which will also be accepted when you enter the country.
The fees for online participation are the same as for in-person participation. Providing hybrid options is very costly: We have many rooms to be equipped with two computers, one or two personnel each, and integrated cameras and microphones. Much of this equipment has to be rented, and staff has to be employed, making the hybrid option very expensive. To cover these costs, we have to charge the same fees. We hope for your understanding.
More information regarding online access to the conference will be provided by the end of May.
More FAQs are coming soon…
Conference Sub-Themes
This is also the reason for the title “The Commons We Want: Between Historical Legacies and Future Collective Actions”. We want to stress the topic of a participatory definition of the commons in different contexts and to raise awareness of the long history of colonialization and globalization processes influencing today’s commons and commoners. At the same time, today’s challenges demand more conducive thinking on collective action in the future at different levels and scales. These reflections led to the following 11 sub-themes.
Ranging from issues of poverty to climate change, biodiversity, life on earth, and life in the water there are many goals that touch upon the issue of common-pool resources and their sustainable management. However, the Agenda 2030 itself addresses primarily governments and not local communities who are owners of such resources under common property institutions worldwide, maintaining these for centuries. Furthermore, the SDGs also address investments in energy, agriculture, and infrastructure. However, these implicate the very processes that often lead to land and commons grabbing, thereby crowding out historical owners due to entangled legal structures regarding common property. This theme shall therefore convene panels focussing on how commons studies can address shortcomings of the global SDGs and create stronger and also gender-sensitive participatory bottom-up processes for a more inclusive implementation of the Agenda 2030.
Scholars within the IASC have a tradition to use different qualitative and quantitative methods to study empirical cases and theoretical questions. The theme shall inform on the latest developments in these fields such as applications of methods like formal models (including agent-based models and dynamical systems), experimental approaches in the lab, field and cyberspace, machine learning, QCA, institutional grammar, and network analysis to derive new insights for collective action and the commons. Diverse approaches exploring various datasets of case studies in systematic ways are also welcome.
Keynotes
Co-Keynote Speakers
Important Dates
Call for panels open
July 15, 2022Panel Acceptance/Rejection Notification
October 31, 2022Call for Papers open
Papers Submission Deadline
December 19, 2022Decision on acceptance of papers
January 20, 2023Early bird registration open
February 28, 2023Early bird registration closes
Early bird registration closes on May 15th, 2023, at 11:59 pm EAT (East African Time = UTC +3).
May 15, 2023Welcome to Nairobi
The IASC2023 Organizers from the University of Nairobi and the University of Bern welcome you to the XIX Biennial IASC Conference ‘The Commons we want’. We hope you have a wonderful conference and will enjoy both the conference as well as everything Nairobi has to offer.
19 June 2023Conference Registration Fees
The conference registration fees are wage-dependent to make the conference accessible to all income categories. IASC membership is a prerequisite to registering for the conference. If you are not an IASC member yet, please follow this link.
Conference registration will start with early bird registration on February 28, 2023. Full fees will be charged starting April 30, 2023.
Annual Income | Early Bird | From April 30, 2023 |
---|---|---|
USD 19,999 or less | USD 150 | USD 200 |
USD 20,000 – 49,999 | USD 225 | USD 290 |
USD 50,000 – 79,999 | USD 300 | USD 375 |
USD 80,000 and over | USD 450 | USD 540 |