Definition:
Enclosure is the process by which shared or collectively accessible resources are converted into privately owned, restricted, or commodified assets.
Usage Context:
Used in historical analysis of land ownership, critiques of capitalism, discussions of digital platforms, intellectual property, and the privatisation of public goods.
Critical Note:
Enclosure is often justified as improvement, efficiency, or progress. In practice, it redistributes power upward by removing shared access and redefining survival, participation, or culture as something that must be paid for.
Related Terms:
Commons, Commons-Based Systems, Commodification, Consumer Lock-In, Platform Power