Manifesto for a new economy (book)

What Then Must We Do?

Never before have so many been frustrated with their economic system, more fearful that it is failing, or more open to fresh ideas about a new one. The seeds of a new movement demanding change are forming. But what is this thing called a new economy, and how might it take shape? What Then Must We Do? suggests what the next system might look like: a system that is not corporate capitalism, not state socialism, but something else entirely. The book calls for an evolution, not a revolution, out of the old system and into the new which would democratize the ownership of wealth, strengthen communities, and be governed by institutions sophisticated enough to manage a large-scale, powerful economy. What Then Must We Do? offers an elegant solution for moving from anger to strategy.

What Then Must We Do?

What Then Must We Do?

The high cost of low prices (book)

Cheaponomics: The High Cost of Low Prices

Do you really think you are getting a good deal when given that free mobile phone for switching service providers, or by the fact that food is cheaper today than ever before? Think again! This compelling book clearly shows that cheapness is an illusion. The real cost of low prices is alarmingly high, for example where consumers provide welfare support to poorly-paid workers, or rely on the exploitation of workers in poor countries. Environmental pollution is paid for indirectly by people living away from its source or by future generations. Even private cars, when properly costed, prove to be an astronomically expensive model of transportation. The key point is that costs and risks are socialised: we all pay for cheapness, but not at the point of purchase.

Social learning for sustainability special issue (#journal)

Special issue: Social learning towards sustainability: problematic, perspectives and promise

 Six articles linked by the common thread that sustainability is not a destiny to reach, but a continuous learning path towards transformation that is profound (e.g. affecting moral standards and value systems), transversal (e.g. requiring the involvement of individuals, groups and collectives) and counter-hegemonic (e.g. requiring the exposure and questioning of stubborn routines). The aim of the special issue is to assess the added-value of a social learning perspective from at least three different ‘disciplinary’ perspectives: systems innovation, natural resource management, and environmental education.

Food movements as social networks (#journal)

The food movement in Canada: a social movement network perspective

In the Global North, there has been increasing analysis of the ways that alternative food initiatives (AFIs) are developing viable, place-based solutions that challenge the corporate-led industrial food system; however, there has been little study of the interrelationships among them. In an effort to better understand the possibilities for food system transformation, this paper builds on existing studies to investigate the increasing collaborations among AFIs occurring through provincial food networks in Canada. Contrary to assumptions that AFIs act in isolation, the paper demonstrates that they are part of actual and existing mobilizations through robust social movement networks. Together, these collaborative efforts may be illustrative of a new wave in food activism that is represented by the emergence of a multi-scaled and cross-sectoral ‘food movement’ – a network of networks.

Climate change and human rights (#journal)

Climate ethics and human rights

Compared to other ethical approaches to climate change, a human rights approach has several advantages: it draws on a widely accepted, coherent and well-developed set of legal norms, it places the human beings most affected by climate change at the centre of its analysis, and it has strong connections to mechanisms of implementation and enforcement. Human rights already provide a sturdy framework for addressing climate change at the micro level of specific projects and national adaptation policies, but face greater challenges at the macro level of global mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. Nevertheless, human rights law contains elements that should allow it to address climate change as a global challenge to human rights.

Gardening after catastrophe (book)

Greening in the Red Zone

‘Greening in the red zone’ refers to post-catastrophe, community-based stewardship of nature, and how these often spontaneous, local stewardship actions serve as a source of social-ecological resilience in the face of severe hardship. Two types of evidence are presented in this book. First are explanations on the positive impact of contact with nature, and from resilience scholars who subscribe to the notion that identifying sources of resilience in the face of change is crucial to the long-term well-being of humans, their communities, and the environment. The second source of evidence are case studies of greening in red zones from post-disaster and post-conflict settings around the world, ranging from the highly visible like the greening of the Berlin Wall, to smaller-scale efforts like planting a community garden in a war zone.

Reslience in peri-urban settings (online)

Understanding Peri-urban Sustainability: The role of the resilience approach

This paper is concerned with how resilience approaches can be used as a practical tool in helping to understand complex systems in an urbanising world and how resilience approaches can contribute to initiatives to enhance environmental integrity and social justice. Some key debates around differing understandings and uses of the term resilience are summarised, and criticisms discussed. In-depth case studies demonstrate opportunities for the use of resilience approaches as an integral part of initiatives that seek to enhance sustainability in dynamic urbanising situations.

Transition's potential to challenge neo-liberalism (online)

ORGANIZING TRANSITION: PRINCIPLES AND TENSIONS IN ECO-LOCALISM

In this chapter, the authors investigate the potential of the transition movement to resist dominant discourses that support neoliberal conceptions of economic growth which deny the environmental consequences of late capitalism, and to transform communities through bottom-up democratic organizing. Although critiques of the transition movement focus on the limitations of eco-localism as a form of resistance to capitalism, the approach in this chapter is deliberately affirmative and is aimed at understanding the potential of the movement as well as identifying issues and challenges it may face. Consideration is given to the transition movement's attempts to be simultaneously responsive to current global environmental and economic crises, while also engaging deeply with issues and dilemmas of democracy.

Social practice theory and urban permaculture (#journal)

‘One city block at a time’: Researching and cultivating green transformations

A growing interest in environmental issues within the community has seen suburban backyards, streets, houses and curbsides become sites of experimentation around sustainable lifestyle practices. Drawing upon research on various grassroots green initiatives around inner urban and suburban Melbourne, this article discusses what the rise of these kinds of lifestyle politics might mean for conceptualizing scale, citizenship, and social change in the contemporary moment. Drawing on social practice theory and its focus on the embodied, habitual and more-than-human elements of everyday practices, the article argues that green suburban lifestyle initiatives such as ‘permablitzes’ are transformational in a number of ways and that they embody, materialize and perform broader sets of changes in people’s lives as they seek to switch from practices of consumption to a focus on self-sufficiency and making do.