‘Open localism’ – on Xue and Vansintjan III

Towards an urban degrowth: Habitability, finity and polycentric autonomism

“…Commoning and localizing energy, land, housing, worktime, and even credit systems are the pillars of a degrowth politics of justice and inclusion. Scholars suggest that these communitarian views must coexist with systems of wealth redistribution through a politics of 'open localism' where the right of communities to self-governance is coupled with the possibility to diversify and include others in political decisions (Schneider and Nelson, 2018). This territorial articulation of the state would combine centralizing and decentralizing forces (Xue, 2018).…”

Mapping complexity in deglobalisation: A typology of economic localisms from ‘hyper-localism’ to ‘strategic autonomy’

“…The focus therefore falls onto social arrangements such as homesteading and village-level production. While the latter could take place in present social arrangements – for instance, urban food production in cities and suburban renewal through backyard gardening – a key assumption in this literature is that ultimately urban density would need to be lowered and some migration back to rural or peri-urban areas would take place (an ‘anti-urbanist’ tendency discussed by Mocca, 2020; Schneider and Nelson, 2018).…”

“…For Schneider and Nelson (2018: 229), the appropriate scale for OL varies: ‘vegetable production can be done within a few kilometres, while producing steel or dentists’ chairs will happen at nodes at larger scales’. If HL, however, is focused on tight localities, OL is about cultivation of a broad pluriverse of alternatives, particularly respectful of indigenous and vernacular knowledges (Kothari, 2018; Velegrakis and Gaitanou, 2019).…”

“…If HL, however, is focused on tight localities, OL is about cultivation of a broad pluriverse of alternatives, particularly respectful of indigenous and vernacular knowledges (Kothari, 2018; Velegrakis and Gaitanou, 2019). According to its proponents, ‘Open localism…is cosmopolitan and diversified, and consists of reorienting the organisation of human communities towards personal relationships of proximity, and reduces that distance that has grown with production for trade and related economic, social and political management’ (Schneider and Nelson, 2018: 228). This is actively and vocally differentiated from localism as being in some way reactionary or exclusionary (Klepp et al, 2022; Schneider and Nelson, 2018).…”

“…According to its proponents, ‘Open localism…is cosmopolitan and diversified, and consists of reorienting the organisation of human communities towards personal relationships of proximity, and reduces that distance that has grown with production for trade and related economic, social and political management’ (Schneider and Nelson, 2018: 228). This is actively and vocally differentiated from localism as being in some way reactionary or exclusionary (Klepp et al, 2022; Schneider and Nelson, 2018). Rather, Open Localists point out that the global system as we know it is itself the key driver of social division and radical inequity (Norberg-Hodge, 2022), and thus taming that system will be central to equitable socio-ecological transformation.…”