Communicative ecologies of 'other economies': Case studies on commoning, solidarity economy and alternative food networks in Portugal and Catalonia

This thesis set out to explore how people, discourse and tools come together in complex ecologies to conceive an economy that aims to serve people and the planet. In the face of economic and climate crises, there is growing interest in, and need for, the development of alternative economic models that place social and ecological justice at the centre of production, consumption, distribution and exchange. This thesis addresses a shortcoming of theory on the communicative dimension of such phenomena and aims to contribute knowledge on organisational communication aspects for the development and affirmation of the ‘other economies’. In concrete, this thesis deploys a communicative ecologies framework enriched with commons theory to answer the following research questions: How do ‘other economies’ collectives organise, and how does it align with commons principles? How do they articulate transformative narratives to convey a common vision and praxis? Which tools do they use and how does it align with the digital commons and knowledge commons perspectives? The research is anchored on an ethnography of ‘other economies’ in Portugal and Catalonia. The methodology is based on case studies that offer an overview of distinct repertoires of action within a wide ecology of socioeconomic change. The five articles of the thesis compendium address the transformative economies movement, institutional solidarity economy networks, community-supported agriculture, a food exchange prosumers group, and online maps of alternatives. Through semi-structured interviews, discussion groups, content and discourse analysis, and digital methods —with both longitudinal, cross-sectional and comparative approaches— the results of the action-oriented research provide a nuanced perspective on social, discursive and technological aspects that characterise the communicative ecologies of ‘other economies’. The first case study takes on the World Social Forum of Transformative Economies (WSFTE) to reflect on the context and challenges surrounding the ‘other economies’ in Portugal. The second case analyses social media content conveyed by solidarity economy networks in Portugal and Catalonia to understand how they articulate transformative narratives and praxis. Then, the research focuses on alternative food networks with two case studies that examine how collectives organise themselves (and their communications) and which technological tools they use and how this aligns with the digital and knowledge commons perspectives. The fifth and last case study compares a set of digital maps of alternatives as communicative devices of diverse economies while exploring the relationship between collaborative mapping and commoning. Communication plays an important role in terms of visibility and recognition of economic alternatives in society, as well as with regard to the internal dynamics that sustain the collective practices. The results highlight the interplay between collective action, transformative discourse, and critical tools in the organisation and affirmation of ‘other economies’, and stress the importance of defending the message of the collective from neoliberal captures, the recognition of communication as reproductive labour, and the need for a critical pedagogy of technology commons. In an attempt to outline the contours of the communicative ecologies of ‘other economies’, this thesis argues for collectivist, feminist, emancipatory approaches to communications to move forward with another economy toward desirable futures.