Taking Back the Economy

* Book: J.K. Gibson-Graham et al. Taking Back the Economy.

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Liisa Horelli:

"Reframing the economy as a space for ethical action and decision-making is the compelling argument that J.K. Gibson-Graham and her team make at the beginning of their book Taking Back the Economy, an ethical guide for transforming our communities. Their aim is to direct people´s activities toward a more sustainable, equitable and just economy.

Economy is not seen in the traditional way as a machine to be obeyed, but as a set of diverse day-to-day processes and practices, which can be modified and consequently changed. Economy is described, like Hazel Henderson´s layered cake in the 1980´s, as an iceberg. It comprises, above the waterline, mainstream economic accounts that are visible, such as wage labour producing for a market in a capitalist firm. Below the waterline are a variety of activities that are indispensable for our daily life and well-being, such as participating in unpaid community activities or taking care of children and the household. The iceberg, besides being the symbol of diverse economies and its varying characteristics, can be used as a tool for making an inventory of the diverse economic activities that exist in the community or region.

The ethics of community economy is tied to the core questions: How do we survive well? How do we distribute surplus? How do we encounter others as we seek to survive well? What do we consume? How do we care for our commons? And, how do we invest for the future? The answer is that it is urgent to take back work, business, markets, property and finance. Each theme has been dealt with in a specific chapter with a systematic methodology, by first defining and describing the problem in context, after which tools for solutions are provided with examples from different parts of the world.

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The authors have painted an interesting picture with concrete examples of what is ment by the economy as a space of negotiated interdependence around everyday life practices. Although the authors do not define diverse economies as part of the broad class of sharing economy, their examples, such as the Mondragon coop, which emerge as spaces of opportunities and hope, represent participatory, peer-to-peer, civic and solidarity economies. Nevertheless, the book lacks a final chapter that would tie the different themes together from the perspective of the local community. There is no account of how the chosen themes together contribute to the transforming of our communities (cf. the subtitle of the book). In addition to economic activities, community development requires dealing with other structural issues that are the substance of expanded urban planning. This does not mean that planners, developers, activists and gender researchers would not benefit from the book, on the contrary, its message about diverse economies as a source of possibilities and hope is seminal. It is urgent that the themes of ´Taking back the economy` will be studied from a holistic perspective in different local communities, all over the world. This will hopefully lead to a new book." (https://commons.fi/2016/11/11/ethical-and-practical-steps-to-community-economies-2/)