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Subsistence under CapitalismHistorical and Contemporary Perspectives |
eBook Available
An understanding of subsistence is crucial to comprehending and challenging the human relationship to nature under capitalism.
The complex relationship between subsistence practices and formal markets should be a growing matter of concern for those uneasy with the stark contrast between commercial and local food systems, especially since self-provisioning has never been limited to the margins. In fact, subsistence occupies a central space in local and global economies and networks.
Bringing together essays from diverse disciplines to reflect on the meaning of subsistence in theory and in practice, in historical and contemporary contexts, in Canada and beyond, Subsistence under Capitalism is a collective study of the ways in which local food systems have been relegated to the shadows by the drive to establish and expand capitalist markets. Considering fishing, farming, and other forms of subsistence provisioning, the essays in this volume document the persistence of these practices despite capitalist government policies that actively seek to subsume them. Presenting viable alternatives to capitalist production and exchange, the contributors explain the critical interplay between politics, local provisioning, and the ultimate survival of society.
Illuminating new kinds of engagements with nature and community, Subsistence under Capitalism looks behind the scenes of subsistence food provisioning to challenge the dominant economic paradigm of the modern world.
Bringing together essays from diverse disciplines to reflect on the meaning of subsistence in theory and in practice, in historical and contemporary contexts, in Canada and beyond, Subsistence under Capitalism is a collective study of the ways in which local food systems have been relegated to the shadows by the drive to establish and expand capitalist markets. Considering fishing, farming, and other forms of subsistence provisioning, the essays in this volume document the persistence of these practices despite capitalist government policies that actively seek to subsume them. Presenting viable alternatives to capitalist production and exchange, the contributors explain the critical interplay between politics, local provisioning, and the ultimate survival of society.
Illuminating new kinds of engagements with nature and community, Subsistence under Capitalism looks behind the scenes of subsistence food provisioning to challenge the dominant economic paradigm of the modern world.
Details
Part of the McGill-Queen's Rural, Wildland, and Resource Studies Series (number 4 in series)
408 Pages, 6 x 9
1 table, 29 figures
ISBN 9780773547001
June 2016
Formats: Paperback, eBook
“Subsistence under Capitalism presents an extremely useful, timely, and integrated challenge to dominant economic thought and to the different, and largely ingrained, dichotomies that surround subsistence and market activities. As a collection, this book fills a critical gap in the literature of a still emerging field of scholarly research.”Lenore Newman, University of the Fraser Valley
“Written with lucidity and grace and I have no doubt that it is a powerful intellectual contribution to community development studies. The editors should be commended for presenting us with a book that vividly justifies the persistence of subsistence under capitalism. This book presents a very important message, i.e. that subsistence provides food security in the ups and downs of global markets.” Community Development Journal
“Written with lucidity and grace and I have no doubt that it is a powerful intellectual contribution to community development studies. The editors should be commended for presenting us with a book that vividly justifies the persistence of subsistence under capitalism. This book presents a very important message, i.e. that subsistence provides food security in the ups and downs of global markets.” Community Development Journal
James Murton is chair and associate professor of history at Nipissing University.
Dean Bavington is associate professor of geography at Memorial University of Newfoundland.
Carly Dokis is assistant professor of anthropology at Nipissing University.
Dean Bavington is associate professor of geography at Memorial University of Newfoundland.
Carly Dokis is assistant professor of anthropology at Nipissing University.
Contents
Table and Figures ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction: Why Subsistence? 3
James Murton, Dean Bavington, and Carly Dokis
PART ONE MAKING MARKETS BY PUSHING SUBSISTENCE
INTO THE SHADOWS
1 The Seeds of Calculability: The Home Farms Experiment
on and off the Books 40
Sarah J. Martin
2 Blurring the Boundaries: Subsistence and Recreational Fisheries
in Late-Nineteenth-Century Ontario 60
William Knight
3 Spinning Flax in Mills, Households, and the Canadian State,
1850-1870 76
Joshua MacFadyen
4 Rural Households, Subsistence, and Environment
on the Canadian Shield, 1901-1940 103
R.W. Sandwell
PART TWO KEEPING AND REMAKING SUBSISTENCE
5 Fishing for Subsistence, Sport, and Sovereignty on Lake
Nipissing 147
Nancy Pottery
6 Aboriginal Subsistence Practices in an “Isolated” Region
of Northern Alberta 162
Clinton N. Westman
7 Working with Fish in the Shadows of Sustainability 195
Jennifer Lee Johnson and Bakaaki Robert
8 Rethinking the Legacies of “Subsistence Thinking” 234
Michael J. Hathaway
9 Alternative Agriculture, the Vernacular, and the MST:
Re-creating Subsistence as the Sustainable Development
of Human Rights 254
M. Jahi Chappell
PART THREE COMING TO TERMS WITH SUBSISTENCE
STUDIES
10 Research by People: A Panel Discussion on Living Subsistence
Locally 298
Edited by Dean Bavington and Jennifer Hough Evans
11 In Defence of Vernacular Ways 318
Sajay Samuel
12 On the Semantics of Theorizing the Cause(s) of the Shadows,
or How to Think about Counting the Differences between a
Wild Edible Mushroom and a Super Tanker, Neither of Which
Fits the Commodity Form 346
Colin A.M. Duncan
Conclusion 368
James Murton, Dean Bavington, and Carly Dokis
Contributors 373
Index 377
Table and Figures ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction: Why Subsistence? 3
James Murton, Dean Bavington, and Carly Dokis
PART ONE MAKING MARKETS BY PUSHING SUBSISTENCE
INTO THE SHADOWS
1 The Seeds of Calculability: The Home Farms Experiment
on and off the Books 40
Sarah J. Martin
2 Blurring the Boundaries: Subsistence and Recreational Fisheries
in Late-Nineteenth-Century Ontario 60
William Knight
3 Spinning Flax in Mills, Households, and the Canadian State,
1850-1870 76
Joshua MacFadyen
4 Rural Households, Subsistence, and Environment
on the Canadian Shield, 1901-1940 103
R.W. Sandwell
PART TWO KEEPING AND REMAKING SUBSISTENCE
5 Fishing for Subsistence, Sport, and Sovereignty on Lake
Nipissing 147
Nancy Pottery
6 Aboriginal Subsistence Practices in an “Isolated” Region
of Northern Alberta 162
Clinton N. Westman
7 Working with Fish in the Shadows of Sustainability 195
Jennifer Lee Johnson and Bakaaki Robert
8 Rethinking the Legacies of “Subsistence Thinking” 234
Michael J. Hathaway
9 Alternative Agriculture, the Vernacular, and the MST:
Re-creating Subsistence as the Sustainable Development
of Human Rights 254
M. Jahi Chappell
PART THREE COMING TO TERMS WITH SUBSISTENCE
STUDIES
10 Research by People: A Panel Discussion on Living Subsistence
Locally 298
Edited by Dean Bavington and Jennifer Hough Evans
11 In Defence of Vernacular Ways 318
Sajay Samuel
12 On the Semantics of Theorizing the Cause(s) of the Shadows,
or How to Think about Counting the Differences between a
Wild Edible Mushroom and a Super Tanker, Neither of Which
Fits the Commodity Form 346
Colin A.M. Duncan
Conclusion 368
James Murton, Dean Bavington, and Carly Dokis
Contributors 373
Index 377
