Postindustrial pathways for a "single industry resource town" : a community economies approach

In this chapter, we reflect on the role academics can play as members of hybrid research collectives concerned to experiment with non-linear and uncertain futures. Using the lens offered by Gibson-Graham’s research on post-capitalist economic development, we situate the mainstream responses to industry decline advocated by established economic interests within a diverse economy framing. We trace how, at a citizen level, other possibilities that might contribute to different postindustrial pathways are also being actively pursued. We consider how such pathways might enact community economies centered on ethical interconnection, resilience, and the growth of wellbeing for people and the planet. The first section of the chapter introduces the social and economic setting of Powell River. Drawing on secondary sources, we briefly identify some of the different social groups that comprise the current Powell River “community” and their history of settlement and migration within the context of colonial and capitalist development. In the next section, we discuss the role of hybrid research collectives in creating new futures. We situate our own actions in the context of an emerging method of participant activist research, and we outline the ethical concerns of community economies that we bring to this project. The last section highlights diverse economic practices and organizations already underway in Powell River and discusses how community economy discourse can deliberately engage with current concerns and open space for new directions.