We live today at the intersection of the two great crises of our time, an economic crisis that has brought severe social dislocation, growing inequalities, and violence, and an ecological crisis that has undermined the natural resources that sustain us and the ecosystems that we call home. We need imagination, critique, and action today. As the activist scholars J.K. Gibson-Graham suggest, we need possibilities for creating revolution “in the here and now.”
With this in mind, we invite you to join us in exploring alternative and non-capitalist practices that individuals and communities are already developing as ways of crafting a more sustainable and equitable world. Our special “track,” or internal theme, will highlight and link together a variety of conference events focusing on non-capitalism and alternative economies. An opening plenary will help to frame 17 sessions investigating:
- Alternative Currencies
- Cooperatives
- Economic subjectivity and social change
- Organizing for alternative economies
- Value and Development
- Pedagogy, Praxis and Alternative Economies
- Conservation
In addition to the sessions, the track includes:
- A Welcome Reception
- Tour of Local Alternative Economies
- Film screenings
- General Assembly with Occupy Baltimore
For full session details and abstracts of individually submitted papers to the track, go to our evolving website http://alt-political-ecologies.weebly.com/occupy.html
While you are at the website, you can also help promote alternative economies in practice: add to a crowd-sourced map of Baltimore area alternative economic initiatives, link up with other meeting-goers for ride-sharing and room-sharing, find lodging via couch-surfing, and add comments, ideas, and questions.
Come to the sessions and events! Join in discussions that can help us to theorize and strategize around the possibilities for imagining and enacting a new world.
