Description
Book SynopsisFollowing the global financial crisis of 2008, there has been significant interest among scholars and activists in alternative forms of organization that operate according to noncapitalist logic, including Alternative Consumer Cooperatives (ACCs). Using the example of Turkey, where neoliberal economics combined with authoritarian politics formed conditions that have profound social and economic consequences, this book investigates ACCs as spaces for prefigurative food politics. Offering a novel perspective on alternative forms of organizing, this book challenges the easy assumptions of what it means to be a scholar working on activism in the global north and shows how, through the foundational values of solidarity, reciprocity and responsibility, it is possible to create new and imaginative forms of politics and activism.
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Experimenting with Direct Democracy The Politics of Food: Alignment for Solidarity and Resistance Against Neo-Liberalism and Authoritarianism: The Background to Food Politics in Turkey Political Economy of Consumer Cooperatives in Turkey Alternative Consumer Cooperatives in the Making of a Public Sphere Experimenting with an Alternative to the Capitalist Food Provisioning System The Governance of Alternative Consumer Cooperatives Instead of a Conclusion References