ABSTRACT
The past decades have witnessed a proliferation of economic and political initiatives that, following on from the social unrest rooted in the 2008 financial crisis and the climate crisis, and recognising the failure of the significant emancipatory narratives of the 20th Century, are now looking to develop new alternatives in solidarity economy and related fields. This chapter presents case studies of two types of such economic and political initiatives, all located in Spain: two cases of cooperative enterprise, in the fields of finance and forestry, and one of new urban commons in the form of urban community gardens in Madrid. Its analysis focuses on three main issues:
Tensions arising in the implementation of these initiatives, mainly between their economically and politically ‘transformative’ aspirations and the reality of operating in an environment dominated by a market-driven capitalist logic.
Alliances and tensions resulting from these initiatives’ interactions with the established institutional sphere.
Dilemmas or conflicts arising from attempts to maintain ideological coherence at the same time as extending an initiative’s social base.
Understanding these issues requires close attention to the interactions between different economic logics and modes of sociability in the everyday practices taking place in such initiatives, particularly through the application of ethnographic research methods.