Community economies

The economic development pathways that result from a community economies approach emphasize the interconnections and interdependencies between people and between people and environments. This differs from mainstream development pathways which generally are based on the Western assumption of individuated and economically rational actors disconnected not just from other people but from the environments around. As we discuss in this chapter, sometimes this means acknowledging, valuing and tracking those things that are already important to local communities, sometimes this means taking steps to actively foster community- based economic initiatives, and sometimes what is important is to ‘leave the villagers alone’ (Somsak 2005 cited in McKinnon 2017, 344). Such an approach has crucial implications for policy and practice, and for pedagogy. Before discussing the three projects and their implications, it is important to clarify what is meant by post- capitalist worlds in a community economies approach.