Sowing the Seeds of a Collective Autonomy: An Analysis of Post-Capitalist Possibilities in Food-Based Livelihoods

Abstract

This dissertation explores the existence and diverse manifestations of post-capitalist possibilities within food-based livelihoods in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec. Highlighting the experiences, motivations and relationships of farmers interested in a food economy 'done differently,' my research analyzes how these possibilities are reconciled with day-to-day negotiations of making a living. Food has long been a driver and tool of social change, however,

‘It’s not really about the food, it’s also about food’: urban collective action, the community economy and autonomous food systems at the Groningen Free Café

“…The lack of formal hierarchy in the café could be contrasted with market economies, where, it can be argued, there is a greater prevalence of hierarchies in monetary and labour relations (Wilson 2015), for example, between employer and employee or customer and business owner. Thus, by challenging these relationships, the café attempts to create a space without explicit hierarchies, and, consequently, alternative ways to interact and connect.…”