Elinor Ostrom with Aurelian Craiutu

In this episode, Juliette Marchant is joined by Aurelian Craiutu, Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Political Science at Indiana University, Bloomington, to discuss the work of Elinor Ostrom — Nobel Prize–winning political economist and one of the most original thinkers about governance in the late twentieth century.Together, Craiutu and Marchant explore what makes Ostrom’s work so enduring and provocative: her challenge to the conventional state-versus-market dichotomy, her theory of polycentric governance, and her insistence that ordinary citizens are capable of self-government. From Governing the Commons to the broader intellectual legacy of the Bloomington School, the episode highlights Ostrom as a thinker who redefined how we understand collective action, institutional diversity, and the fragile art of making democracy work.Texts Referenced in the Episode:Liberalism under Siege: The Political Thought of the French Doctrinaires  - Aurelian CraiutuA Virtue for Courageous Minds: Moderation in French Political Thought, 1748-1830 - Aurelian CraiutuFaces of Moderation: The Art of Balance in an Age of Extremes - Aurelian CraiutuWhy Not Moderation? Letters to Young Radicals - Aurelian CraiutuGoverning the Commons - Elinor OstromBeyond Markets and States: Polycentric Governance of Complex Economic Systems (Nobel Prize Lecture) - Elinor OstromActual World, Possible Future - Short DocumentaryThe Tragedy of the Commons - Garrett Hardin