The conditions that we find ourselves in - extreme social inequalities, dislocations, and violence as part of increasingly unstable ecologies - implore us to rethink the very nature of our economies and ourselves. Yet, even as our economic activity pushes towards runaway climate change, there is a cynical sense of inevitability; the very foundations of our dominant economy are largely taken for granted and often explained away as the result of human nature. At the same time, a multitude of efforts globally and locally are casting aside capitalism's ideological constraints and intentionally building and organizing around alternative economies. This course draws from economic anthropology, political ecology, Marxism, and community economies theory to explore, critically examine, and theorize capitalism and its non-capitalist others. We first examine capitalism as a theoretical construct and lived experience. We contrast this dominant story of capitalism by investigating economic difference across time and place. In the second half of the semester we explore prominent efforts around the world that are making a claim that "other economies are possible," including Solidarity Economies, the Cooperative Movement, Community Economies, and Buen Vivir. Through ethnographic readings, videos, discussions, and guest presentations from activists, organizers, and community developers, we examine the constraints on and possibilities for the cultivation of ethical economies that might enable us to learn how to live well with each other and non-human others.
- Teacher: Boone Shear