This book addresses a great dichotomy in thought regarding resource governance: the distinction between public and private. In common thinking, we tend to sort social phenomena according to the categories public and private. We regard something as private if it only pertains to individuals. It is public if it affects the concerns of a community, such as a national society. In addition, we presume that something cannot be public and private at the same time. The categories demarcate two clearly separate spheres without any overlaps or ambiguities. We consider actors, actions, resources and property rights to be either public or private.