How democratic politics function within community economies, and the possibility for their practices to have wider transformational effects

"We live in an age facing financial collapse and the breakdown of ecological systems, with electoral democracy being unable to bring about transformational change. Capitalism dominates economic discourse, allowing no room for alternatives, and the social relations that constitute economies are masked. There is an urgent need to reconfigure conceptions of value, work and the social relations that underpin them.

The project I would like to research critically examines how democratic politics function within community economies, and the possibility for their practices to have wider transformational effects.

In this project, I will draw together the community economies literature with the political thought of Jacques Rancière to theorize what Miller (2013) characterises as the `political moment' of community economies.

This project will spark novel conversations that will develop the community economies literature. It can also present a new reading of Rancière's democratic politics.

This project will involve extended periods of field world in two different sustainable communities, Solheimar Eco Village in Iceland, and Hockerton Housing Project, Nottinghamshire. These are chosen as they are well established (Hockerton Housing Project was established in 1996, Solheimar in 1930), and are therefore useful sites for examining how the political moment is sustained.

Both sites have a focus on ecological sustainability, but different approaches to governance. These different approaches make for an interesting comparison.
I will use ethnographic qualitative methods, including semi-structured interviews, focus groups and discourse analysis to unpick how democratic politics operate in the groups, and how work and value are perceived. I will also use this to understand how community is understood, and how the groups navigate difference.

This project aims to theorise the political moment of community economies by asking:
1) How are community economies democratic in nature?
2) Can community economies open spaces where democracy exists and transform economies?
3) What new forms of value, work and social relations emerge in community economies and how does this intersect with radical democracy?"