Name
Cooperatives, Commoning, and the Socio-Spatial Dynamics of Economic Alterity
Date & Time
Friday, May 23, 2025, 10:30 AM - 10:45 AM
Description
Research on alternative economies continues to expand, documenting diverse forms of economic alterity and theorizing pathways for socioeconomic transformation. Yet much of this work remains focused on enterprises and clearly defined spaces—such as cooperatives, community hubs, and ‘the commons’—without fully accounting for the spatial dynamics that enable these spaces to emerge, interact, and evolve. While researchers have explored how alternative economies are reproduced and scaled, less attention has been given to the confluence of formal and informal spaces that sustain and extend these practices.
Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in the Basque Country, Italy, and Canada, this paper proposes a framework to map both established sites of economic alterity and the informal, transient spaces—such as streets, urban festivals, and public gatherings—that connect, transform, and shape them. I illustrate how alternative economic spaces and practices do not exist in isolation but rather as networks of interwoven spaces. These socio-spatial dynamics operate across multiple scales, extending beyond formal boundaries and forming pathways of economic possibility. By tracing these intersections, I argue that alternative economies should be understood not only as distinct sites of alterity but also as fluid, relational processes embedded in spatio-temporal context.
Location Name
Mackenzie (ME) 4236
Session Type
Oral Presentation
Abstract ID
108
Speaker Name
Jonah Olsen
Speaker Organization
University of Toronto
Session Name
CS142 Economic Geographies II