Pleasingly this book has a section pointing out that the tradegy of the commons was always a lie, told by imperialist Hardin. Rather than just argue like a pub bore (it was just that one time), Ostrom has the data to refute it.

Wall summarises her work as a set of rules:

1. Think about institutions
2. Pose social change as problem solving
3. Embrace diversity
4. Be specific
5. Listen to the people
6. Self-government is possible
7. Everything changes
8. Map power
9. Collective ownership can work
10. Human beings are part of nature too
11. All institutions are constructed, so can be constructed differently
12. No panaceas
13. Complexity does not mean chaos.

Wall does a good job of boiling a life's work into thematic chapters, rounded off with a bit of Marxist critique. The ideas are front-loaded, so I felt I got more out of the earlier chapters. On review I've highlighted at least one section in every chapter.