Subsistence under Capitalism

Historical and Contemporary Perspectives

James Murton, Dean Bavington, Carly Dokis

• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9780773547001
• eBook ISBN: 9780773598782
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

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.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Copyright
• CONTENTS
• TABLE AND FIGURES
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• INTRODUCTION: WHY SUBSISTENCE?
• PART ONE Making Markets by Pushing Subsistence into the Shadows
• 1 THE SEEDS OF CALCULABILITY: THE HOME FARMS EXPERIMENT ON AND OFF THE BOOKS
• 2 BLURRING THE BOUNDARIES: SUBSISTENCE AND RECREATIONAL FISHERIES IN LATE-NINETEENTH-CENTURY ONTARIO
• 3 SPINNING FLAX IN MILLS, HOUSEHOLDS, AND THE CANADIAN STATE, 1850–1870
• 4 RURAL HOUSEHOLDS, SUBSISTENCE, AND ENVIRONMENT ON THE CANADIAN SHIELD, 1901–1940
• PART TWO Keeping and Remaking Subsistence
• 5 FISHING FOR SUBSISTENCE, SPORT, AND SOVEREIGNTY ON LAKE NIPISSING
• 6 ABORIGINAL SUBSISTENCE PRACTICES IN AN “ISOLATED” -REGION OF NORTHERN ALBERTA
• 7 WORKING WITH FISH IN THE SHADOWS OF SUSTAINABILITY
• 8 RETHINKING THE LEGACIES OF “SUBSISTENCE THINKING”
• 9 ALTERNATIVE AGRICULTURE, THE VERNACULAR, AND THE mst: RE-CREATING SUBSISTENCE AS THE SUSTAINABLE -DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
• PART THREE Coming to Terms with Subsistence Studies
• 10 RESEARCH BY PEOPLE: A PANEL DISCUSSION ON LIVING SUBSISTENCE LOCALLY
• 11 IN DEFENCE OF VERNACULAR WAYS
• 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
• CONCLUSION JAMES MURTON, DEAN BAVINGTON, AND CARLY DOKIS
• CONTRIBUTORS
• INDEX