Local understandings of what a ‘solidarity economy’ might amount to, and how to set up and run ‘solidarity economy networks’ varied considerably between these two locations.Īlthough some of the protagonists of these networks share an understanding of what a ‘new economy’ ( Alperovitz 2012) should strive for and shared some literature and inspirational examples, they tended to focus on different practices: whereas in Italy the focus lay on re-engineering short provisioning chains (mostly in relation to food), in the U.S. I build on my comparative ethnography of two areas of advanced industrial or post-industrial development: Massachusetts (U.S.) and Lombardy (Italy). However, the histories and meanings associated with such paradigms may be very diverse. Furthermore, it has been argued that they provide alternative paradigms for active citizenship through democratically controlled regional economies. The case studies examine collective food procurement on multiple scales and in three European cities, focusing on the cultural dimensions of collective food procurement.īuilding on a one-year comparative pilot project in Italy and USA funded by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, I propose a set of questions: How do styles of procurement match styles of participation? Might some models of participatory engagement reproduce hegemonic views of what ‘active citizenship’ should be, and what ‘alternatives’ should look like? How can we compare skill, scale, diversity and solidarity across different types of networks? How do we foster new imaginaries of food and of societal participation? Active citizenshipĬollective forms of provisioning promote a number of different projects and agendas, such as viable local economic circuits, responsible production, and ethical consumption. I will set out to identify and ethnographically observe alternative provisioning initiatives that move beyond the idea of ‘ alternative food networks’. These are two of the challenges I will address over the next five years in the ERC Consolidator project Food citizens? Collective food procurement in European cities: Solidarity and diversity, skill and scale. 2012) may appropriate and express notions of citizenship and societal participation. ![]() What are the limits and potential of these networks? Secondly, we lack a coherent conceptual framework to demonstrate the ways in which ‘civic food networks’ ( Renting et al. Firstly, some scholarship has highlighted the fact that alternative food networks often focus more on sustainability and quality, less on social inclusion and ‘food justice’ (access to resources for underprivileged groups). A large part of this scholarly interest focuses around the topic of ‘alternative agro-food networks’.Ī few results stand out. A growing literature identifies alternative strategies for self-provisioning: i.e., for procuring food and other goods and services in a consciously oriented way (for example Seyfang and Longhurst 2013, Schor 2010, Stevenson et al.
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