diverse economies, multiple futures (beijing international symposium on the solidarity economy)

DIVERSE ECONOMIES

AND MULTIPLE FUTURES

MOTHERS, MIGRANTS, AND MINORITIES

IN XINING, QINGHAI

DR KELLY DOMBROSKI

MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY, SYDNEY AUSTRALIA

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]










INTRODUCTION

My research project: Mothers and the Economy in Northwest China (fieldwork 2006-2009)

DIVERSE ECONOMIES IN CHINA

Project outputs relevant to this forum:

•Book Chapter: With Oona Morrow, forthcoming, ‘Enacting post-capitalist politics through the sites and practices of social reproduction’ in K. Meehan and K. Strauss (eds) Precarious Worlds: New Geographies of Social Reproduction(University of Georgia Press, 2013).

•PhD Thesis: 2012, Babies’ Bottoms for a Better World: Hygiene, Modernities and Social Change in Northwest China and Australasia. Available via University of Western Sydney library.

•Article: 2011, ‘Embodying Research: Maternal bodies, fieldwork, and knowledge production in northwest China’ Graduate Journal of Asia Pacific Studies Vol 7(2):19-29.

•Book Chapter: 2011 ‘Awkward engagements in mothering: Embodying and experimenting in northwest China’ in Michelle Walks and Naomi McPherson (eds) An Anthropology of Mothering, Demeter Press: Toronto.

Diverse EconomiesRethinking Economy

Transac t ions Labour Enterpr i se

Market Wage Capi ta l i s t

Alternat ive

Market

Alternat ive

Paid

Alternat ive

Capi ta l i s t

Nonmarket Unpaid Noncapi ta l i s t

Transac t ions Labour Enterpr i se

Market Wage Capi ta l i s t

Alternat ive

Market

Alternat ive

Paid

Alternat ive

Capi ta l i s t

Nonmarket Unpaid Noncapi ta l i s t

TRANSACTIONS LABOUR ENTERPRISEMarket Wage CapitalistAlternative Market

Sale of public goodsEthical “fair-trade” marketsLocal trading systemsAlternative currenciesUnderground marketCo-op exchangeInformal marketsBarter

Alternative paid

CooperativeSelf-employedReciprocal labourIn-kindWork for welfareIndentured

Alternative capitalist

NonprofitState enterpriseGreen capitalistSocially responsible firm

Nonmarket

Household flowsGift-givingState AllocationsState appropriationsGleaningHunting fishing gatheringTheft/poachingIndigenous exchange

Unpaid

HouseworkFamily CareNeighbourhood workSelf-provisioning LabourVolunteerSlave Labour

Noncapitalist

CommunalFeudalIndependentSlave

Source: Gibson-

Graham 2006:71

Rethinking Economy

DIVERSE ECONOMIES FRAMEWORK

CONTEXT – WOMEN’S LIVES IN

NORTHWEST CHINA

‘The recognition of women’s productive potential appears to have been achieved at the expense of appreciation for their unpaid work within the household’ (Kabeer, 1994: 26).

DIVERSE ECONOMIES AS RESEARCH

METHOD



Alternative paid




Nonmarket


Unpaid


Noncapitalist


Source: Gibson-

Graham 2006:71

Rethinking Economy

DIVERSE ECONOMIES AS RESEARCH METHOD

I sometimes think of social science as being a bit like coming up with constellations in the night sky.

You step out under this vast sky and there are thousands of stars. The human brain picks out 8 of them, and turns them into a stick figure, and calls it Orion. The issue is not only that some people get out there and say ‘hey that is not a mighty hunter, it’s a saucepan!’

It is also that once some one has taught you the constellations, each time you step under the night sky, you look for that constellation. There are millions and millions of stars. But our minds

will gravitate to trying to find those eight stars, and

will focus on them, filtering everything else out.

Lindy Edwards, at the Sydney Writer’s Festival 2007

CONSTELLATION

COSMOS



Alternative paid




Nonmarket


Unpaid


Noncapitalist


Source: Gibson-

Graham 2006:71

Rethinking Economy

DIVERSE ECONOMIES AS RESEARCH METHOD

ON THE STREET - METHODS

ON THE STREET - RESULTS

ON THE STREET - RESULTSTRANSACTIONS LABOUR ENTERPRISEMarket Wage CapitalistAlternative Market


Alternative paid




Nonmarket


Unpaid


Noncapitalist


TRANSACTIONS LABOUR ENTERPRISEMarketConsumer of market goods, including babycareservices and productsPaying for birth-related services such as scans, c-sections, doctor’s fees

WageInformal waged workers

CapitalistCo-owners of teahouse uptown

Alternative Market Alternative Paid Alternative CapitalistInformal marketPurchase of fruit, vegetables, and meat from ‘back of the truck’ street stallsHiring of poor relatives or friends for below market wagesBlack marketCurrency exchange on black market

Self-employedSmall one-woman stallsBack of the bike businessesIn-kindHousing provided in boss-relative’s home or shop Goods given as part of payment

Family-owned enterpriseNoodle house owned by two sister-in-laws who employ much of their extended family

NonmarketHousehold flowsSharing household labour with other family membersBreastfeeding childrenGift-givingGiving gifts to friends, colleagues and family, sometimes to cultivate guanxi.State allocationsSpace for marketplace, toilets providedState appropriationsFamily land in the country appropriated by state for miningBarterBetween stall-holders and suppliers

UnpaidHouseworkCooking, cleaning, washing clothes for householdFamily careOf children and elderly relativesInfant toiletingSelf-provisioning labourPreserving VolunteerAt church, mosque and templeCare of others’ children

Non-capitalistIndependentBack of the bike businessStallholdersButcher-mothersFeudalFamily operates as economic unit, with obligatory childcare roles for husband’s mother. Family members may be expected to contribute to family or patriarch-owned businesses for free.

ON THE STREET – RESULTS & ANALYSIS

• Ethnographic thick description, informed by diverse economies

• Diverse economies of production and reproduction• Spaces of production and reproduction often one and the

same• Mothers and grandmothers performing care work and

productive labour simultaneously• Minority and marginalised women making choices about

their productive labour based on their care preferences• Valuing and reframing women’s work (both productive and

reproductive) as important.• Highlighting economic and care practices that are worth

preserving.

THE WORKSHOP - METHODS

NEEDS/PROBLEMS MAP

THE WORKSHOP - METHODS

ASSETS MAP

THE WORKSHOP - RESULTS

THE WORKSHOP - RESULTSTRANSACTIONS LABOUR ENTERPRISEMarket Wage CapitalistAlternative Market


Alternative paid




Nonmarket


Unpaid


Noncapitalist


TRANSACTIONS经济事务

LABOUR劳动

ENTERPRISE企业

MarketConsumers of industrial products

WageSome teachers

CapitalistSome city restaurants

Alternative MarketSale of public goodsWild herbs, mushroomsInformal marketsSale of surplus vegetables, eggs, milkServices: flour milling, noodle makingBarterExchange of goods between households

Alternative paidCooperativeGreenhouse businessesMingban (untrained teacher) paid by communityAhong (Imam) paid by communitySelf-employedSale of surplus vegetables, eggs, milkServices: flour milling, noodle makingReciprocal labourFarmwork, BuildingIn-kindZu ren (village representative) gets free trips but no pay

Alternative capitalistNonprofitLoan paid back to NGO for greenhouses (no interest?)

NonmarketState AllocationsLand, flour, road, schools, help with greenhouse businessesNGO assistanceLiteracy programmeAlmsgivingGiving to mosque and poorIndigenous exchangeWeddingsFunerals

UnpaidHouseworkFamily CareWomen and elderly care for children. Women care for elderly and sick.Self-provisioning LabourPerformed by whole familyVolunteerVillage committees, mosque committeesroad maintenance

NoncapitalistCommunalFarming, housework, childcareCooperative banking systemFeudalInstances of forced giving to mosque

THE WORKSHOP

– RESULTS FOR COMMUNITY?

• NGO and volunteers became more interested in social enterprise, looking outside the aid model and outside the microfinance model.

• NGO and volunteers planned to do similar exercises with villages.

THE WORKSHOP

– RESULTS FOR PARTICIPANTS

• Performative aspect – enacting a change in perspective allowing multiple futures to be imagined.

• Performative aspect – enacting a change in attitude towards villagers’ abilities

• Practical considerations – e.g. changing ‘no flush toilets’ to ‘humanure’

• Practical considerations – set of tools to use in the field. Useful for grant proposals.

• Practical considerations – actual mapped out ‘evidence’ of what is already happening

USING D.E. METHODS WITH MOTHERS

In China/Qinghai:– Fitting in with busy daily routines (time issue)

– Interviewing in the workplace (limits group activities)

– Interviewing in the xiaoqu/courtyard (casual approach)

– My children in the field

– Dislike of ‘real research’, preference for casual conversation

– Ongoing relationships over time

MULTIPLE REALITIES/MULTIPLE FUTURES

MULTIPLE REALITIES/MULTIPLE FUTURES

• Moving from ‘constellation’ to ‘cosmos’• Enacting research that opens possibility• Working with where people are at, to enact

different kinds of futures• From ‘not much capitalism’ to ‘much more than

capitalism’. A post-capitalist politics?• Learning from ‘out-of-the-way’ peoples and

places– Shaping our production around our ‘reproduction’?– Nappy-free infant toileting?

NAPPY-FREE TOILETING: “HOLDING OUT” AGAINST CAPITALISM

-Proctor & Gamble multi-million yuan campaign promoting disposable nappies-Yet average chinese consumer uses only 1 per day.-Qinghai: The health of babies’ bottoms depends on being well-aired -Even a dry nappy considered unhealthy (coagulates blood –leads to other health problems)

NAPPY-FREE TOILETING: TRAVELLING TO

WESTERN CONTEXTS

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