Alternative Economic Spaces

by Andrew Leyshon (Editor), Roger Lee (Editor), Colin C Williams (Editor)

Overview

‘A hopeful but nonetheless hard-hitting analysis of alternative economic spaces proliferating in the belly of the capitalist beast. In this book Leyshon, Lee and Williams convene fascinating studies of exchange, enterprise, credit and community. They invite us onto a new and promising discursive terrain where we can analyze, criticize and above all recognize actually existing economies of diversity in the wealthy countries of the West' - J K Gibson-Graham, Australian National University and University of Massachusetts, Amherst

In the context of problems in the "new economy" - from dot.com start-ups, high-technology, and telecoms - Alternative Economic Spaces presents a critical evaluation of alternatives to the global economic mainstream. It focuses on the emergence of alternative economic geographies within developed economies and analyzes the emergence of alternative economic practices within industrialized countries. These include the creation of institutions like Local Exchange and Trading Systems, Credit Unions, and other social economy initiatives; and the development of alternative practices from informal work to the invention of consumption sites that act as alternatives to the monoply of the ‘big-box', multi-chain retail outlets.

Alternative Economic Spaces is a reconsideration of what is meant by the ‘economic' in economic geography; its objective is to bring together some of the ways in which this is being undertaken. The volume shows how the ‘economic' is being rethought in economic geography by detailing new economic geographies as they are emerging in practice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761971290
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	09/03/2003
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	204
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

About the Author

Andrew Leyshon is Professor of Economic Geography at the University of Nottingham.

Roger Lee is Emeritus Professor of Geography at Queen Mary, University of London. He is an economic geographer interested in the connections and contradictions between the presumed hard logics of economy and their socio-cultural practice and in the possibilities for progressive change that might ensue from the latter.

Table of Contents

Introduction - Andrew Leyshon and Roger Lee
Alternative Economic Geographies
The Alterity of the Social Economy - Ash Amin, Angus Cameron and Ray Hudson
Alternative Financial Spaces - Duncan Fuller and Andrew E G Jonas
Alternative Retail Spaces - Louise Crewe, Nicky Gregson and Kate Brooks
Alternative Work Spaces - Andrew Lincoln
Alternative Employment Spaces - Colin C Williams and Jan Windebank
Alternative Exchange Spaces - Colin C Williams, Theresa Aldridge and Jane Tooke
Alternative Lifestyle Spaces - Jeffrey Jacob
Conclusions - Roger Lee and Andrew Leyshon
Re-Making Geographies and the Construction of ‘Spaces of Hope'

Editorial Reviews

"An excellent text for an advanced undergraduate or graduate course in economic geography or the other social sciences."

Julie Graham

"An excellent, timely, and provocative book—a must-read for students of economic and social geography. This book examines a wide range of alternative economic spaces from retail and finance to life style. All of the chapters are, without exception, well written, and many are based on detailed empirical research, often using innovative comparative case studies along with other methods."

Padraig Carmody

‘A hopeful but nonetheless hard-hitting analysis of alternative economic spaces proliferating in the belly of the capitalist beast. In this book Leyshon, Lee and Williams convene fascinating studies of exchange, enterprise, credit and community. They invite us onto a new and promising discursive terrain where we can analyze, criticize and above all recognize actually existing economies of diversity in the wealthy countries of the West' - J K Gibson-Graham, Australian National University and University of Massachusetts, Amherst

From the Publisher