Doctoral Dissertation Research: Assembling Community Economies

Clark University, Worcester MA

Investigators

Abstract

There is extensive empirical documentation about community economies alternative forms of economic organization such as cooperatives and social enterprises worldwide, but much remains to be learned about their emergence, the factors that make them more or less successful, and the prospects for them to be extended and scaled up from the local level. This research will examine how community economies come into being and become more or less sustainable in contexts where conventional forms of production, consumption, distribution, and marketing are prone to chronic destabilization. The project is expected to advance theories and concepts in economic geography and development studies by revealing the everyday relations that hold these enterprises together, the resources necessary for their success and resilience, the constraints and challenges facing them, and the processes that affect their stability. Its results will identify points of intervention for policy-makers, planners, and scholars; particularly those hoping to establish, sustain, and strengthen programs that seek to improve the well being and resilience of disadvantaged communities. The project's findings will be published in academic outlets, distributed through popular media sources, and presented in local and international conferences and workshops. Local informants will play a central role throughout the project, both during the field research and in the development and dissemination of research findings. The project will also be significant in supporting the training of the doctoral student. This study utilizes a novel conceptual framework that draws on the diverse literatures on community economies, assemblage theory, and actor-network theory to answer three sets of questions: 1) How do differences between actors affect the development of a community economy and the everyday production, marketing, distribution, and other practices through which it functions? 2) How do resources and constraints affect these practices and the relations among the actors participating in community economies? 3) What makes actors participate in a community economy and what factors and processes contribute to its stabilization or resilience? This study will examine community economies in east and southeast Turkey, a region that has faced long-standing socioeconomic hardships and will study three community economy initiatives; a worker cooperative, a consumer cooperative, and a community branding initiative. The project will be situated in a predominantly Kurdish city in eastern Turkey, where a comparative analysis of three case studies will be conducted. Data will be collected through interviews, focus groups, and direct observations, and then analyzed qualitatively.