By incorporating a material practice within an approach that is socially engaged, my research examines if and how community can be built and developed through the use of alternative economies. Through public participation, I am questioning if the act of collaboration can alter one’s relationship with and understanding of art and maker. / October 2015

The aim of this diploma thesis is to study how nonhuman agents are introduced and employed as a replacement for social reproduction by analyzing the environment and types of exchange practiced in the countryside of post-socialist Russia. The farm where my fieldwork took place exhibits many types of exchange, among which cryptocurrencies, seen as a socio- material algorithm, are used for the redistribution of essential goods and/or favors in a method similar to those used in former socialist and post-socialist economies. Drawing from the anthropological discussion on gift-commodity logic in the area, I look at cryptocurrencies as a hybrid - they hold the qualities of a gift (authority, name) and could be used to speculate with on the crypto stock-exchange (commodity). Key words: alternative economies, post-socialism, cryptocurrencies, algorithms, sociomateriality

This research investigates the values and principles of cooperatives in relation to regenerative development and evaluates how these principles can be applied to foster SDD on Gotland. As alternative economies, cooperatives represent an opportunity to facilitate a regenerative type of development that is needed to face the issues brought by the capitalist system and the tourism industry. These many challenges were exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis and emphasised the need to find new understandings of the tourism industry and of the way business is carried out in our societies. The evidence gathered from seven semi-structured interviews with the members of a Gotland’s cooperative was analysed in relation to frameworks of values and principles of regenerative development and tourism. Based on the findings and the theoretical background, four Cooperative Principles for Regenerative Development [CPRD] were derived and their potential application for SDD argued. The CPRD include the Support of entrepreneurs, the Commitment and good intent to carry out projects for the community’s wellbeing, Cooperation among stakeholders, associations, and GUBIS companies, and the Contribution to create a healthy, lively, and liveable society. In relation to SDD, the principles can be applied by supporting tourism stakeholder and entrepreneurs so that they can find convergence points among themselves, co-creating across multiple domains to catalyse positive system effects. Additionally, the CPRD can foster SDD by facilitating a discourse about alternative types of exchanges that evolves around an holistic type of economic development that is embedded in the natural ecosystem and is based on circularity and inclusivity.

Researchers, environmentalists, social justice activists and policy makers have long discussed the inherent environmental and social problems prevalent in food systems. This thesis explores ways in which foodsharing can be interpreted as a movement towards a future set of economic relationships that values environmental limits and the right of individuals to access food. Contributing to a growing body of literature, I argue that foodsharing demonstrates the ability for people to organize using alternative digital tools for collection and distribution of readily abundant resources without the need for significant government or business intervention, producing a type of commons relationship.  The aim of the thesis is to explore what foodsharing, as a process of commoning, can teach us about alternative forms of economic and social exchanges. If alternative economic organizations are important for a just transition, social scientists need to go beyond arguments for their relevance to study their actual strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities to support them. Drawing on theories of commons, prefigurative politics and just transitions, this thesis looks at an alternative economy organization which succeeds despite working against the status quo, to show where the social system around it is not designed to support it and asks what it might need to reach further.  This is explored through the qualitative case study of a well-established foodsharing organization in a medium size city on the West coast of Sweden. Research questions focused on the political ideas used by the organization, the ways in which it was organized, and the reasons for and resolution of conflict. Through interviews, observations, and online research the case is elaborated upon and analyzed to reveal the unique dynamics of the studied organization. These include very specific rules for collecting and distributing food that aim to maintain transparency, solidarity, and fairness. The foodsharing organization displays some characteristics of a food commons and in other instances characteristics of a gift economy. The main contribution is a closer look at the resulting interpersonal and organizational dynamics of one alternative economy organization in order to illuminate some challenges of organizing and maintaining similar ventures in the future. If alternative economic organizations have social benefit, then they will need to be supported in the ways in which are appropriate to their form and politics. / Forskare, miljövetare, aktivister och politiker har länge pratat om de inneboende miljö- och social problem som präglar matsystemet. Denna avhandling utforskar om hur så kallad “foodsharing”, matdelning, kan tolkas som en rörelse mot framtidiga ekonomiska förhållanden som  värdesätter ekologiska gränser och individers grundläggande rätt till mat. Som ett bidrag till ett växande forskningsfält, menar jag att matdelning visar på människors förmåga  att använda digitala verktyg för att samla och distribuera överflödiga resurser utan behov av offentlig eller marknadsinvolvering, vilket skapar en typ av allmänning mellan människor.  Syftet med avhandlingen är att utforska vad matdelning, som en typ av allmänning, kan lära oss om alternativa former av ekonomiska och sociala utbyten. Om demokratiska ekonomiska verksamhet är viktigt för en rättvis omställning, så behöver samhällsvetenskapen gå bortom att argumentera för dess relevans, till att i stället studera deras styrker, svagheter, och faktiska behov. Med utgångspunkt i teorier kring allmänningar, prefigurativ politik, och rättvis omställning, tittar denna avhandling närmare på en alternativ ekonomisk organisation som lyckas även om den arbetar emot status quo, för att förstå och beskriva hur samhällssystemet inte är utformat för att stötta dem och vad de behöver för att nå längre.  Detta utforskas genom en kvalitativ fallstudie av en väl etablerad matdelningsorganisation i en medelstor stad på Sveriges västkust. Forskningsfrågorna fokuserade på den politiska idéer i organisationen, hur den organiserades, och grunderna för och metoder för att minska konflikt. Genom intervjuer, observationer, och webbaserad forskning, belyses och analyseras fallet för att visa de unika dynamikerna som präglar denna organisation. Dessa inkluderar regler för insamlingen och distributionen av mat med fokus på att upprätthålla transparens, solidaritet och rättvisa. Organisationen visar både på egenskaper av en matallmänning och av en gåvoekonomi. Det huvudsakliga bidraget är en närmare förståelse av de resulterande mellanmänskliga och organisatoriska dynamikerna i en icke-monetär organisation som arbetar utifrån principer av ömsesidighet och belyser några av utmaningarna med att organisera och upprätthålla denna typ av initiativ i framtiden. Om ömsesidiga organisationer ska skapa ett socialt värde, så behövs de stödjas på sätt som är lämpliga i relation till deras form och politik. / <p>QC 20240513</p>