The Italian experience of the commons. Over the last twenty years, three different orientations have characterized the Italian experience of the commons. The first is related to the revival of the rural commons, which have survived more than two centuries of attempted dismantling, which the law n°168 of 2017 finally recognized the as legitimate and deserving legal protection with their centuries-old
history, of which the legal historian Paolo Grossi was a fervent advocate. The second is linked to the group of activist legal theoreticians composed by Stefano Rodotà, Ugo Mattei, and Alberto Lucarelli, who criticized private property as a source of injustice and developed bold draft legislation trying to include commons into the Civil Code. Finally, the third experience has developed the principle of subsidiarity (Constitution, article 118. 4) with a practical outcome such as the multiplication of municipal regulations for managing urban commons. Despite their successes and commonalities, these three different perspectives have not led to any real synergy and have always evolved following separate directions.
