Community economies : responding to questions of scale, agency and indigenous connections in Aotearoa New Zealand

THIS COMMENTARY WAS invited by the special editors of this issue and is partly based on the Community Economies session that the four authors organised at the Social Movements Conference III: Resistance and Social Change in Wellington, 2016.1 In the Community Economies session, we (the authors) reviewed the diverse-economies framework and showed how it translates into a politics grounded in economic difference, specifically non-capitalist economic practices. We gave various examples of how people enrol different practices into the formation of community economies that prioritise ethical interdependence among people and with the planet. Stephen reviewed a collaborative research project based on the solidarity-economy movement in the United States of America; we showed and then discussed a film that focused on alternative food-movement organisations; and Kelly and Irene presented their work (co-authored with Gradon) on post-quake commoning practices in Christchurch. Gradon shared his experiences researching and working with the Wellington Timebank, and Joanne presented on multiplicity and diversity in MÄori political participation.