Enclosure

Not to be confused with privatisation and demutualisation.

Enclosure is the process by which commons are converted into private property, usually violently by a state and resulting in worsening ecological conditions, increased unhappiness among the lower classes and economic inefficiencies.

Examples of Enclosure

• Eviction of peasantry from common land in Western Europe (notably the UK) from the 1100s to 1800s and subsequent policing of peasantry, wiping out the European peasantry and creating the working class.
• Police raids to destroy or government co-optation urban squatter communities in the late 20th century.

Examples of Resistance to Enclosure

Uprisings

• German Peasants' War
• Kett's Rebellion
• Midland Revolt
• Western Rising
• Zapatista Revolution

Organisations

• Abahlali baseMjondolo (South Africa)
• Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee (India)
• Diggers (England)
• Fanmi Lavalas (Haiti)
• Homeless Workers' Movement (Brazil)
• Landless Peoples Movement (South Africa)
• Landless Workers' Movement (Brazil)
• Narmada Bachao Andolan (India)
• Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign (South Africa)
• Zapatista Army of National Liberation (Mexico and MAREZ)