Schedule 9th International Degrowth Conference

This paper investigates strategies for collaboration of community-led initiatives (CLIs) which develop and experiment with degrowth- and commons-based forms of local economic provisioning. CLI approaches to provisioning represent counter-hegemonic pathways for economic organisation that involve associated narratives, i.e. diverging interpretations of local sustainability challenges and the corresponding potential approaches to tackle them. In their specific local contexts, the economic practices and narratives of CLI activists often radicaly diverge from established economic practices and the worldviews held by a majority of the local population. Nevetheless, we argue that – in order to realise their transformative potenital – CLIs need to engage not only with local policy makers, but also with citizens from outside the ‘activist bubble’. The paper addresses the following research questions: What are various narratives on local provisioning held by CLI activists, policy makers, and wider local populations around particular initiatives? What are the variously-favoured strategies for pursuing, in a collaborative way, the concrete provisioning options in focus? How do different stakeholder groups perceive and appraise these provisioning options and why do they hold these views? The paper employs a single-case study and uses an action research approach that included participatory workshops and multicriteria mapping interviews. Through this process, participants co-developed several concrete local projects that aim to foster degrowth- and commons-based provisioning in their community. Analytically, the paper offers a deeper understanding of diverging narratives around local provisioning processes and the strategies to overcome them to facilitate collaboration between CLI activists, local policy makers and non-activist citizens.

Info

Day: 2023-08-30
Start time: 11:00
Duration: 00:15
Room: ZV-8-2
Type: Paper Presentation
Theme: Alternative economies

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