What is COMMON OWNERSHIP? What does COMMON OWNERSHIP mean? COMMON OWNERSHIP meaning

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• published: 25 Mar 2017
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What is COMMON OWNERSHIP? What does COMMON OWNERSHIP mean? COMMON OWNERSHIP meaning - COMMON OWNERSHIP definition - COMMON OWNERSHIP explanation. Source: Wikipedia.org article, adapted under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ license. Common ownership refers to holding the assets of an organization, enterprise, or community indivisibly rather than in the names of the individual members or groups of members, as common property. The principle of holding the means of production in common with free access to the output is the defining feature of a communist society. Common ownership of the means of production is advocated by communists and some forms of socialism. Advocates make a distinction between collective ownership and common property; the former refers to property owned jointly by agreement, such as producer cooperatives, whereas the latter refers to assets that are completely open for access, such as a public park freely available to everyone. Many socialist movements advocate the common ownership of the means of production by all of society as an eventual goal to be achieved through the development of the productive forces, although many socialists classify socialism as public ownership of the means of production, reserving "common ownership" for what Karl Marx termed "upper-stage communism". From a Marxist analysis, society based on a superabundance of goods and common ownership of the means of production would be devoid of classes based on ownership of productive property. Therefore, public or state ownership of industry is seen as a temporary measure to be adopted during the transition from capitalism to socialism, which will eventually be displaced by common ownership as state authority becomes obsolete as class distinctions evaporate. Common ownership in a hypothetical communist society is distinguished from primitive forms of common property that have existed throughout history, such as communalism and primitive communism, in that Communist common ownership is the outcome of technological developments leading to superabundance. It is the practical application of the socialist desire to achieve the “common ownership of the means of production” (see Clause IV). Its purpose, by preventing control being obtained through the purchase of a company’s share capital, is to ensure that the founders’ aims are pursued in perpetuity. This is particularly desirable to the founders of a workers’ co-operative, who, inspired by solidarity and the desire to create fulfilling employment, will typically build the business up through hard and low-paid work (misleadingly called “sweat equity”). They may out of a sense of fairness wish to hinder future generations of employees, or their heirs, from winding up the co-operative so as to be able to share the sale proceeds among themselves. Common ownership is practised by large numbers of voluntary associations and non-profit organizations, by all charities, as well as implicitly by all public bodies. Most co-operatives have some element of common ownership, but some part of their capital may be individually owned. A very significant early influence on the movement has been the Scott Bader Commonwealth, a composites and speciality polymer plastics manufacturing company in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, which its owner, Ernest Bader, gave to the workforce in installments through the late 1950s to early 1960s. (Contrary to the popular concept of common ownership organisations as being small organisations, this is a high-technology chemical manufacturer whose turnover has exceeded L100 million per annum since the early 1990s with a workforce of hundreds.) In London, Calverts is another rare example of an established worker co-operative with a policy of pay parity. The John Lewis Partnership is probably the most famous example of a worker co-operative, albeit one without pay parity. From the collective movement, one of the most successful ventures is probably Suma Wholefoods in Elland, West Yorkshire.