By: Alexandria Ruschman, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2021, International Studies and Central Eurasian Studies, IU Bloomington
Edited by: Ellie Kaverman and Bre Anne Briskey, Bicentennial Graduate Assistants
It’s not just elected officials and top executives who are brilliant. There are many individuals who have pretty good insights. I want to enable them.[1]–Elinor Ostrom
Indiana University’s history is full of countless faculty members who led groundbreaking academic careers, all while contributing to the improvement of IU and local communities. There is possibly no better example of this than Elinor Ostrom, longtime professor of political science at Indiana University and the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2009.
While Ostrom is best known for her Nobel Prize winning work on shared governance of the “The Commons,” the many IU faculty, staff, and students who worked closely with her knew her as an outstanding colleague, mentor, and teacher.
In the last decade, nearly two dozen of her students have received National Science Foundation (NSF) support for their dissertation research, a truly remarkable record.[2] Ostrom s earned countless awards and honors for her academic contributions, including election to five major national academies and ten honorary doctorates from around the world.
One of her most visible legacies at IU Bloomington is the Ostrom Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis. Founded in 1973 by Ostrom and her husband, Vincent Ostrom, the workshop was renamed after them in 2012.
Ostrom overcame multiple obstacles throughout her life, including poverty, a speech impediment, anti-Semitism, and sexism as she pushed forward in her groundbreaking work, during a time when women were not expected to pursue careers at all, much less a ground-breaking one.
Early Life and Education
Elinor “Lin” Ostrom was born in Los Angeles, CA in 1933 in the midst of the Great Depression.[3] Her father worked as an artist who made set designs for Hollywood while her mother was a musician.[4] The Great Depression promptly stripped Ostrom’s father of his job, and he ended up laying bricks to support the family.[5]
The family struggled to make ends meet while living in the lower outskirts of Beverly Hills. Ostrom later reflected that her family remained fed through their large backyard which contained their “victory garden,” complete with fruit trees and a vegetable garden.
Ostrom’s mother was able to secure a waiver for her daughter to attend school in the Beverly Hills school district. This allowed Ostrom access to an excellent education and high student expectations. Later in a 2009 interview, Ostrom credited this event in her life as the catalyst for her life in academia: “I would not have gone to college without being in that environment. My mom had no more than high school, and my dad had no more than high school… but I went because all my friends were going. It was a high school where everyone went to college.”[6]
While at school in Beverly Hills, Ostrom faced the reality of being the “poor kid in the rich kid’s school,” as well as a speech impediment, stuttering, and anti-Semitism.[7]
As a young child, Ostrom was the target of anti-Semitic bullying; children would surround and taunt her because her father was Jewish and her mother was Protestant. Ostrom later reflected that, “Having that experience as a kid and being a woman and having that challenge as it has been at different times to be a woman. I’ve got pretty good sympathy for people who are not necessarily at the center of civic appreciation.”[8]
Ostrom joined the debate team during her junior year of high school, which helped to reduce her stutter and exposed her to the craft of forming arguments on difficult policy questions. She also swam competitively and taught swimming to earn money for college.[9] Ostrom graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1951 and gave a speech at commencement titled, “Is There a World Tomorrow?”[10]
Ostrom went on to attend college at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA). As a first-generation college student, Ostrom supported herself financially by working at the library, a dime store, and at the university bookstore. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree in political science in 1954. After earning her degree, Ostrom worked in a clerical pool and eventually as an assistant personnel manager, an unusual job for women at the time.[11]
Ostrom returned to UCLA to work on her master’s degree in political science, earning it in 1962. Shortly afterwards, Ostrom began working on her doctorate in the same field, despite some hesitation from the UCLA faculty who were reluctant to allow women into the program.[12] Ostrom earned her doctorate in political science in 1965; she wrote her dissertation on ground water basin management in California, foreshadowing much of her later work on resource management.[13]
That same year, 1965, Ostrom’s husband and fellow political scientist, Vincent, was offered a professorship at Indiana University Bloomington. The university extended an offer to Ostrom as a visiting assistant professor.[14] Lin and Vincent Ostrom were bound for Bloomington, where they would spend the rest of their careers and lives.
Ostrom in Indiana and “the Commons”
After a year of teaching early morning classes to freshmen, Ostrom was promoted to a graduate advisor and assistant professor in 1966. She went on to become a vital member of the department throughout her tenure at IUB.
She was promoted to associate professor and then to professor of political science in 1969 and 1974 respectively. In 1980, Ostrom was appointed chair of the political science department, a position she served in until 1984, and again from 1989-90.[15] In 1991, she was appointed Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Political Science.
In 1973, Ostrom and her husband established what would become a major part of their legacy at Indiana University: The Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis. The workshop brought together scholars and students across disciplines to collaborate in research that works to better understand institutions and governance through unique ecological, social, and economic settings.[16]
The workshop initially began in a former fraternity house near campus.[17] Its emphasis on using an interdisciplinary approach to better understand institutions mirrored Ostrom’s own methodology. She served as co-director alongside her husband until 2009, when she became the senior research director.
Her dedication to approaching societal problems through interdisciplinary collaboration was highlighted by her time as a professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, where she worked part-time for much of her time at IU.[18]
The workshop’s interdisciplinary approach is best described by Ostrom herself, in her autobiographical piece for the Nobel Prize:
If the research that one wants to pursue can all be done sitting in a library carrel somewhere in one’s home institution, then one does not need to develop the equivalent of a Workshop. However, if one is trying to understand and test theory in the field and in the experimental lab and to really pursue in-depth studies of diverse institutional arrangements around the world, then working with colleagues located in diverse settings at various stages of their careers is crucial for making scientific progress.[19]
According to Ostrom, she spent her first 15 years at IUB studying a type of resource management: police departments of all sizes across the United States and their differing capability of delivering services to the community.[20]
During the next 15 years, however, she returned to her dissertation topic of common pool resources; the debate surrounding the commons helped to launch Ostrom into academic stardom in 2009. After years of research, she published her award-winning theory, “Governing of the Commons,” in 1990.
Ostrom’s work directly challenged Garrett Hardin’s popular theory, “Tragedy of the Commons,” published in 1968. Hardin’s “Tragedy” theory argued that individuals will selfishly use limited shared resources for their own self-interests until the resource is completely depleted.
In her 1990 book, Governing of the Commons, Ostrom countered against this and proposed that allowing individual to govern the common pool resource was the ideal governing method, instead of inviting potentially otherwise-motivated government or private sector entities to govern the resource.[21]
In her book, she wrote, “The power of a theory is exactly proportional to the diversity of situations it can explain.”[22]
Ostrom said she first recognized this while she was a doctoral student at UCLA; in her search for finding a more optimistic answer to better the ways of governing, she found evidence from all over the world, from “Japanese fisherman and Swiss farmers [that] still relied on handshake agreements dating to the 1500s.”[23]
Ostrom’s theory ignited research on shared governance, common pool resources, and “the commons” around the world. Ostrom revolutionized thinking on how individuals could actually regulate and govern their shared resources without the assumption that private entities and governments could do it better.[24]
During her Nobel lecture, Ostrom concisely stated: “What we have ignored is what citizens can do and the importance of real involvement of the people involved—versus just having someone in Washington…make a rule.”[25]
In 2009, Ostrom was awarded the Nobel Sveriges Riksbank Prize for Economic Sciences “for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons.”[26] This made her the first woman to earn the prize and the first Indiana University faculty member to earn the prize for Economic Sciences.
The World as The Commons
Throughout her work and research on the commons, Ostrom fostered connections with fisheries, forests, fields, water supplies, institutions, and other shared resources across the world. She made extensive field visits in Nepal, Nigeria, and Kenya and research visits to Australia, Bolivia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Philippines, Poland, and Zimbabwe.[27]
After the publication of her 1990 book, research centers began to pop up in many of the areas that Ostrom studied.[28] The emergence of such centers bolstered Ostrom’s argument of the commons: that the best people to manage a community’s resources are the individuals who are closest to the resource, instead of a governmental or private entity.
In 2006, while Ostrom was still committed to her own research and teaching at Indiana University, she forged a close relationship with Arizona State University, establishing its Center for the Study of Institutional Diversity. From its inception until her death in 2012, Ostrom served as the Founding Director of the Center, and regularly traveled back and forth between Indiana and Arizona.[29]
Ostrom’s connection with the world is apparent through examining the sheer amount of her worldwide recognition. She was honored with 10 honorary doctorates, from institutions in India, France, Norway, Canada, Germany, and Sweden.[30]
Ostrom’s Legacy
Ostrom’s unique, interdisciplinary approach to studying human and institutional behavior resulted in to a towering scholarly presence in various fields such as political science, economics, law, and psychology.
In her Nobel lecture, Ostrom spoke of the complex relationships within and between communities and institutions:
There’s a five-letter word I would like to repeat and repeat and repeat: Trust…We must learn how to deal with complexity rather than rejecting it. And we should not be proposing panaceas.[31]
Throughout her life, Ostrom held numerous leadership positions and won prestigious awards, often becoming the first woman to do so. She was the first female chair of the department of political science at IU and she served as the president of the American Political Science Association in 1996-1997.
In 2012, Time magazine named Ostrom as one of 100 most influential people in the world.[32]
Her impact on the world can be estimated by her extensive publication record, which includes over 30 books, hundreds of journal articles, book chapters, and presentations.
She received funding for her work from the Mellon Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the United Nations Development Program, the MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, USAID, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the National Institute of Mental Health.
In 2010, Indiana University honored both Elinor and Vincent Ostrom’s pioneering contributions to the campus and the world with the University Medal, the highest award by the university.
In 2012, Ostrom passed away from cancer at the age of 78.[33] Right up to her death, Ostrom worked tirelessly–the day before she died, she sent email messages to her co-authors regarding the collaboration on their research and papers.[34]
In October 2019, the IU Bicentennial honored Ostrom with a historical marker, located outside of Woodburn Hall, the longtime location of her office and the political science department.
During the ceremony, it was announced that Ostrom will also be honored with the creation of a bronze statue sitting on a bench outside of Woodburn Hall. She is the first woman to be honored with a statue on the IU Bloomington campus.
Little by little, bit by bit, family by family, so much good can be done on so many levels.[35]–Elinor Ostrom, 2009
Bibliography
- “About Us.” Ostrom Workshop, Indiana University. https://ostromworkshop.indiana.edu/about/index.html
- Arrow, Kenneth J. et al. “Elinor Ostrom: An uncommon woman for the commons.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 109,33 (2012): 13135–13136. doi:10.1073/pnas.1210827109
- Carpenter, Dan. “Thinking globally small,” Indianapolis Star, February 21, 2010. Page B11.
- “Elinor Ostrom.” IU News Room, April 6, 2020. https://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/13922.html
- Elinor Ostrom – Biographical. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2020. Thu. 21 May 2020. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2009/ostrom/biographical/
- Elinor Ostrom Curriculum Vitae, 2012. Ostrom Workshop. https://ostromworkshop.indiana.edu/pdf/CVs/eostrom_vitae.pdf
- “Elinor Ostrom, Indiana University faculty member, wins Nobel Prize for Economics.” IU News Room, October 12, 2009. https://newsinfo.iu.edu/news-archive/12185.html
- “First Woman to be Awarded Nobel Economics Prize Dies” The South Bend Tribune (South Bend, Indiana), 14 Jun 2012, Page A4
- “Her Place in History” The Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, Indiana), 11 Dec 2009, Page A1
- Hinnefeld, Steve. “Nobel Lecture: ‘We Must Learn How to Deal with Complexity’” The Reporter-Times (Martinsville, Indiana), 9 Dec 2009, Wed, Page 5
- “IU professor Elinor Ostrom named to Time’s list of 100 most influential people.” IU News Room, April 12, 2012. https://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/22018.html
- McFeely, Dan. “Nobel Mettle” The Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, Indiana), 6 Dec 2009, Page A1
- “Nobel” The Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, Indiana), 13 Oct 2009, Page A4.
- Ostrom, Elinor. “Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action,” 1990.
- “The story of non-economist Elinor Ostrom”. The Swedish Wire. December 9, 2009. Archived from the original on December 14, 2009.https://web.archive.org/web/20120416020256/http://www.swedishwire.com/business/1985-the-story-of-non-economist-elinor-ostrom?start=1
- “The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2009.” NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2019. Mon. 6 May 2019. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2009/summary/.
- Vlad, Tarko (2017). Elinor Ostrom: an intellectual biography. London.
- Woo, Elaine. “Elinor Ostrom dies at 78; first woman to win Nobel in economics.” Los Angeles Times. June 13, 2012. https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-xpm-2012-jun-13-la-me-elinor-ostrom-20120613-story.html.
Notes
[1] Carpenter, Dan.
[2] “Elinor Ostrom.”
[3] “Elinor Ostrom – Biographical.”
[4] Woo, Elaine.
[5] McFeely, Dan.
[6] McFeely, Dan.
[7] McFeely, Dan.
[8] “The story of non-economist Elinor Ostrom”
[9] “Elinor Ostrom – Biographical.”
[10] Vlad, Tarko.
[11] “Elinor Ostrom – Biographical.”
[12] “Elinor Ostrom – Biographical.”
[13] Elinor Ostrom Curriculum Vitae, 2012.
[14] Woo, Elaine.
[15] Elinor Ostrom Curriculum Vitae, 2012.
[16] “About Us.”
[17] McFeely, Dan.
[18] Elinor Ostrom Curriculum Vitae, 2012.
[19] “Elinor Ostrom – Biographical.”
[20] “Elinor Ostrom – Biographical.”
[21] “Elinor Ostrom – Biographical.”
[22] Ostrom, Elinor.
[23] McFeely, Dan.
[24] “Her Place in History”
[25] “First Woman to be Awarded Nobel Economics Prize Dies”
[26] The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2009.
[27] Elinor Ostrom Curriculum Vitae, 2012.
[28] McFeely, Dan.
[29] Arrow, Kenneth J. et al.
[30] Elinor Ostrom Curriculum Vitae, 2012.
[31] Hinnefeld, Steve.
[32] “IU professor Elinor Ostrom named to Time’s list of 100 most influential people.”
[33] “First Woman to be Awarded Nobel Economics Prize Dies”
[34] Arrow, Kenneth J. et al.
[35] McFeely, Dan.