Seeds of hope, seeds of resistance: Cultivating food justice and community economies through urban agriculture

<p>Grounded on the experiences and discourses of volunteers and members of Southern Garden located in the Southern suburbs of Wellington and Wesley Community Action in Cannons Creek, I explore the work these community projects to contest the current corporate agrifood system using ethnographic and participatory approaches. This thesis is an attempt to show the often unrecognised and underestimated revolutionary work community activist are doing through UA. This research seeks to advance the discussions around food justice, and community economies in UA in the context of Aotearoa New Zealand since the literature around these topics is limited. The main aim of this thesis is to open spaces for these conversations to happen both in academia and among grassroots groups in order to push forward for a more just system. Using food sovereignty, food justice, community economies and the right to the city as my theoretical framework, I highlight the power of everyday politics to change and challenge the status quo without being complacent and uncritical about the limitations and contradictions of such work. Both projects open spaces of possibility and freedom where we can all build better futures to come. I have tried in this thesis to make justice to their work and to help move forward in search of more radical spaces of transformation.</p>

Seeds of hope, seeds of resistance: Cultivating food justice and community economies through urban agriculture

<p>Grounded on the experiences and discourses of volunteers and members of Southern Garden located in the Southern suburbs of Wellington and Wesley Community Action in Cannons Creek, I explore the work these community projects to contest the current corporate agrifood system using ethnographic and participatory approaches. This thesis is an attempt to show the often unrecognised and underestimated revolutionary work community activist are doing through UA. This research seeks to advance the discussions around food justice, and community economies in UA in the context of Aotearoa New Zealand since the literature around these topics is limited. The main aim of this thesis is to open spaces for these conversations to happen both in academia and among grassroots groups in order to push forward for a more just system. Using food sovereignty, food justice, community economies and the right to the city as my theoretical framework, I highlight the power of everyday politics to change and challenge the status quo without being complacent and uncritical about the limitations and contradictions of such work. Both projects open spaces of possibility and freedom where we can all build better futures to come. I have tried in this thesis to make justice to their work and to help move forward in search of more radical spaces of transformation.</p>

Beyond waged work: The everyday politics of alternative socio-economic practices

<p>Within geography and beyond there has been much discussion about how to best respond to the mounting inequalities, pressing environmental concerns and socio-economic precarity that appear to characterise current neoliberal capitalist societies. Kathi Weeks (2011) suggests that contemporary forms of precarity are linked to dominant discourses around waged labour which she terms the ‘work society’. This work society is characterised by three inter-related expectations that frame waged work as morally necessary, as the primary right to citizenship, and as the main way to participate in wider society. Weeks argues that these expectations have increased since the global financial crisis, yet paradoxically there are fewer secure and meaningful waged jobs available. In response to these socio-economic and environmental concerns, feminist autonomous geographers like J-K Gibson-Graham (2006) argue that the best way to respond is to ‘take back the economy’ at local scales. Rather than ‘overthrowing’ global neoliberal capitalism, Gibson-Graham and groups such as the Community Economies Collective have been engaged in ongoing projects which foster and enact alternative practices and subjectivities. In this thesis I draw on the work of J-K Gibson-Graham, the Community Economies Collective and others to explore two examples of collective social action in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. These two examples are the relational arts platform, Letting Space, and the Wellington Timebank. I employ a post-structural approach drawing on ethnographic methods to explore how these collectives foster and enact alternative forms of exchange and community in response to the dominant discourses of the work society. I draw on the ideas of Jacques Rancière (2001; 2004) to show how the practices associated with Letting Space and the Wellington Timebank create political moments which disrupt the work society. I complement these discussions about political moments by drawing on the work of Judith Butler (2006b) and Jean-Luc Nancy (1991; 2000) to show how subjects enact forms of community that are not based on fixed identities. In this thesis I provide an important contribution to geographic literature by illustrating the potential of relational art and Timebanking practices to move beyond the melancholy affects associated with leftist politics over the last 30 years. I argue that the forms of social action explored in this research provide one practical way for subjects to partially negotiate the contradictions of the work society while simultaneously fostering forms of community that are more open and not premised on exclusionary identity categories.</p>

Beyond waged work: The everyday politics of alternative socio-economic practices

<p>Within geography and beyond there has been much discussion about how to best respond to the mounting inequalities, pressing environmental concerns and socio-economic precarity that appear to characterise current neoliberal capitalist societies. Kathi Weeks (2011) suggests that contemporary forms of precarity are linked to dominant discourses around waged labour which she terms the ‘work society’. This work society is characterised by three inter-related expectations that frame waged work as morally necessary, as the primary right to citizenship, and as the main way to participate in wider society. Weeks argues that these expectations have increased since the global financial crisis, yet paradoxically there are fewer secure and meaningful waged jobs available. In response to these socio-economic and environmental concerns, feminist autonomous geographers like J-K Gibson-Graham (2006) argue that the best way to respond is to ‘take back the economy’ at local scales. Rather than ‘overthrowing’ global neoliberal capitalism, Gibson-Graham and groups such as the Community Economies Collective have been engaged in ongoing projects which foster and enact alternative practices and subjectivities. In this thesis I draw on the work of J-K Gibson-Graham, the Community Economies Collective and others to explore two examples of collective social action in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. These two examples are the relational arts platform, Letting Space, and the Wellington Timebank. I employ a post-structural approach drawing on ethnographic methods to explore how these collectives foster and enact alternative forms of exchange and community in response to the dominant discourses of the work society. I draw on the ideas of Jacques Rancière (2001; 2004) to show how the practices associated with Letting Space and the Wellington Timebank create political moments which disrupt the work society. I complement these discussions about political moments by drawing on the work of Judith Butler (2006b) and Jean-Luc Nancy (1991; 2000) to show how subjects enact forms of community that are not based on fixed identities. In this thesis I provide an important contribution to geographic literature by illustrating the potential of relational art and Timebanking practices to move beyond the melancholy affects associated with leftist politics over the last 30 years. I argue that the forms of social action explored in this research provide one practical way for subjects to partially negotiate the contradictions of the work society while simultaneously fostering forms of community that are more open and not premised on exclusionary identity categories.</p>

Opening New Pathways for Development: An Exploration into Community Economies

<p>This research explores community economies as a way of practicing development differently. The community economy framework has arisen out of post-development critiques which highlight how some development practices have discursively and practically created linear understandings of economic development. In contrast, the community economy framework involves highlighting the many economic practices and community assets that currently sustain people and suggests that multiple possible pathways to improved wellbeing can be imagined from these local beginnings. The approach seeks to prioritise neither local nor foreign practices, but encourages critical public discussion around which activities could be built on to improve community wellbeing. This research draws on my experiences engaging with the communities of San Miguel and Yachakay in Bolivia between March and June 2010, and contributes to the dialogue on the community economy approach as a way to practice development. I have explored how this process of negotiating research in the field affects research outcomes. Throughout the process of exploring community economies I faced a number of challenges in negotiating the research in the field. This thesis is grounded in feminist and indigenous methodological approaches that recommend the researcher seek ways to transfer power and benefits to the researched in locally relevant ways. Yet very few works address the process of negotiation required to achieve this. My experience shows that by uncovering this often glossed over process, insights can be gained into the complex ways the researched assert power in research contexts, and thus assert power over research outcomes. This research explores the viability of researching community economies within a Masters framework. My approach in San Miguel involved collecting data though semi-structured interviews, informal conversations and a reflective research journal. However my research in San Miguel was cut short. In the new location, Yachakay, I added a Participatory Action Research approach to my methodological tool kit. Other attempts to build community economies have involved significant budgets, experience and community engagement periods. While my approaches to building community economies in Bolivia were restricted by the relatively short Masters thesis timeframe, limited funding and my novice researcher status, the experience was not completely fruitless. I believe that benefits were gained both by researched and researcher through this exploration of community economies.</p>

Opening New Pathways for Development: An Exploration into Community Economies

<p>This research explores community economies as a way of practicing development differently. The community economy framework has arisen out of post-development critiques which highlight how some development practices have discursively and practically created linear understandings of economic development. In contrast, the community economy framework involves highlighting the many economic practices and community assets that currently sustain people and suggests that multiple possible pathways to improved wellbeing can be imagined from these local beginnings. The approach seeks to prioritise neither local nor foreign practices, but encourages critical public discussion around which activities could be built on to improve community wellbeing. This research draws on my experiences engaging with the communities of San Miguel and Yachakay in Bolivia between March and June 2010, and contributes to the dialogue on the community economy approach as a way to practice development. I have explored how this process of negotiating research in the field affects research outcomes. Throughout the process of exploring community economies I faced a number of challenges in negotiating the research in the field. This thesis is grounded in feminist and indigenous methodological approaches that recommend the researcher seek ways to transfer power and benefits to the researched in locally relevant ways. Yet very few works address the process of negotiation required to achieve this. My experience shows that by uncovering this often glossed over process, insights can be gained into the complex ways the researched assert power in research contexts, and thus assert power over research outcomes. This research explores the viability of researching community economies within a Masters framework. My approach in San Miguel involved collecting data though semi-structured interviews, informal conversations and a reflective research journal. However my research in San Miguel was cut short. In the new location, Yachakay, I added a Participatory Action Research approach to my methodological tool kit. Other attempts to build community economies have involved significant budgets, experience and community engagement periods. While my approaches to building community economies in Bolivia were restricted by the relatively short Masters thesis timeframe, limited funding and my novice researcher status, the experience was not completely fruitless. I believe that benefits were gained both by researched and researcher through this exploration of community economies.</p>