Totnes

"In recent years there has been increasing academic interest in theorising and exploring the postcapitalist, interstitial economic spaces that exist within or beyond capitalism, typified by the work of J. K. Gibson-Graham. Such spaces, it is argued, represent not only sites of resistance but are spaces from which ‘alternative’ economic development strategies can proliferate. This thesis seeks to explore the conditions under which such ‘grassroots’ postcapitalist institutions might flourish. Some of the existing literature on postcapitalist institutions indicates that places with a reputation for countercultural activity might be productive sites for the emergence of grassroots postcapitalism. However, this thesis argues that such countercultural places are themselves an under-researched and under-theorised phenomenon.

To address these deficits this thesis develops a broader conception of the countercultural and explores the tendencies that have led to the case study area (Totnes, Devon) becoming a ‘New Age’ or ‘Alternative’ centre. It describes the processes that led to the formation of a self-sustaining localised countercultural milieu within the area. In particular, it identifies homophily, the desire to be amongst similar people, to be significant, previously unrecognised factor. It then explores the significance of postcapitalist institutions within the locality. Whilst the density of activity supports the hypothesis that such places are sites of postcapitalist activity, little evidence is found that the locality increases their economic viability. This argument is made through an exploration of the local organic marketscape.

The thesis also explores a paradox that emerged through the research: That those places which are productive for the emergence of new ideas and the shifting of ontological frames might not be the best places in which to also build collective community based entities. Thus it argues that there is a generally unrecognised relationship between some countercultural places and processes of social innovation, and it explores the spaces that support such innovation as well as the factors that undermine collective projects. Ultimately, the research did not find substantive evidence to support interstitial postcapitalist strategies or theories. However, it concludes with some reflections on how approaches to interstitial postcapitalism might be theoretically and practically strengthened.
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This paper introduces the concept of an alternative milieu in order to provide a more thorough account of the nature and development of ‘alternative’ places. It argues that such places have been generally neglected within geography, and that where they have been the object of research it is usually through a narrow conceptual lens. It is argued that the concept of an alternative milieu provides three analytical benefits. Firstly, it highlights the diversity of alterity within a given locality, a factor that is obscured by simplistic place images or narrower analytical frames. Secondly, it emphasises the significance of geographically fixed institutions in the formation of alternative places. Thirdly, it provides an anchor concept around which the processes that lead to the formation of alternative places can be orientated. The utility of the concept is illustrated through a case study of the emergence of an alternative milieu around the market town of Totnes in the United Kingdom.

Drawing inspiration from a burgeoning corpus of scholars who have begun to question the narrative of impending market hegemony, this paper seeks to further advance this emergent ‘diverse economies’ literature by constructing a conceptual framework for representing the multiple labour practices in economies. Transcending the simplistic market/non-market dichotomy, this conceptualises multiple kinds of labour existing along a spectrum from market-oriented to non-market oriented practices, which is cross-cut by another spectrum ranging from wholly monetised to wholly non-monetised practices. The resultant portrayal of a plurality of labour practices that seamlessly merge into each other is then applied to understanding the types of labour used in Ukraine. Analysing the results of 600 interviews conducted across various populations reveals not only the shallow permeation of the formal market economy in this society that has been supposedly undergoing a ‘transition’ to the market but also the existence of diverse work cultures across different populations along with marked socio-spatial variations in the nature of individual labour practices. The outcome is a call for a re-reading of the organisation of labour in Ukraine and the wider application of this conceptual lens that captures the proliferative nature of labour practices in economies.