Introduction: Thinking Commoning Asia

The concept of Asian Commons is a way to engage Asia both in its incredible heterogeneity and its important historical resonance. The intellectual and political desire to create an Asian Commons comes from a collective history of anti-colonial struggles and shared vision for social and economic justice. As a concept, Asian Commons is informed by the historical resources accumulated through Asia’s varied but connected experience with decolonization, as well as the intellectual project to study such lived experiences on their own terms. The chapter aims to rethink Asia in an inclusive and collective manner without privileging any region or nation-state based on economic and political power. The chapter makes visible the alternative pathways, constellations, and echoes that nurture the notion of Asian Commons and enable various peoples’ struggles to transgress borders and imagine Asia, homeland, and our collective futures otherwise.