Feminising the Economy: Metaphors,strategies, politics

Within contemporary feminism, common approaches to feminising the economy involve adding a sphere or sector or attributing a monetary value to women's unpaid labour. Each of these approaches is interested in creating an accurate representation of the real or 'whole' economy. But these representations are in the same lineage as mainstream economic conceptions; the economy remains a bounded entity that can be known by enumerating its parts. The 'adding on' and 'counting in' strategies employed by feminists complete the picture of what is needed to produce social well-being but do not necessarily help us think differently about how goods and services are or might be produced. In this article, the authors ask how feminist economic theory might contribute to envisioning or enacting alternative economies. They find answers to this question through reading feminist interventions for glimmers of a deconstructive project that opens 'the economy' to difference. Pursuing these glimmers, they attempt to insert the possibility of non-capitalist forms of economy, including economies of generosity, non-profit businesses, worker collectives and alternative capitalist enterprises impelled by a social or environmental ethic. In place of the view of the economy as a whole comprised of a pre-established number of parts or sectors, it can begin to be seen as a discursive construct that can be reconstructed to contribute to social transformation.     

MAGNETIZATION DATING AT A MEDIEVAL MONASTERY (TUPHOLME,LINCOLNSHIRE)*

Tupholme Abbey, founded by c. 1166, was constructed of limestone masonry, some of which was reoriented at several times through its history. The limestone progressively acquired a ‘soft’, time-dependent magnetization in the earth's magnetic field—viscous remanent mag-netization (VRM)—that acts like a clock. Although VRM is normally disregarded by geologists because of its ephemeral nature, this remanence is acquired and persists over time-scales that are useful to archaeologists. Successive VRMs were initiated, at different ages of stabilization of the masonry, thus yielding a chronometric curve that allows us to determine, at least relatively, when masonry was installed.     

'The Affairs of a Distant Dependency': The Nigeria Debate and the Premiership, 1916

We provide the first full account of the intertwined corporateconflicts and political tensions behind the ‘Nigeria Debate’of 8 November 1916, the beginning of the crisis that toppledthe Asquith coalition The debate had its ongins in an attemptby the Lagos authorities and the Colonial Office to break theemerging monopoly of a ‘Ring’ of British firms overNigerian trade The government sought to encourage foreign (especiallyAmerican) investment with a highly publiazed sale of formerGerman assets. Sir Edward Carson, the recognized leader of politicaldiscontent, took up the firms' agitation against the policy,alleging official neglect of British interests. Bonar Law, whoas Colonial Secretary was the minister responsible, decidedto counter-attack. He argued that Carson, while claiming tobe a disinterested patriot, was defending the private interestsof profiteering firms. Spurning compromise, and demonstratingthat the issue was not a simple tariff reform/free trade choice,Bonar Law treated the debate as a test of Unionist support forhis leadership. Carson's followers privately acknowledged thatBonar Law won; but the strength of Carson's support, even witha bad case, and uncertainties about Lloyd George's position,persuaded Bonar Law that the administration could not continueon its present basis. For Asquith the endgame then began     

Alternative Pathways to Community and Economic Development: The Latrobe Valley Community Partnering Project

Conventional approaches to development in areas that are experiencing economic decline invariably focus on business growth through interventions such as incentives, infrastructure development and job readiness training. This paper reports on a pilot project aimed at developing an alternative approach to community and economic development in the context of the Latrobe Valley, Victoria, a resource region that has experienced downsizing and privatisation of its major employer, the state‐owned power industry. The project was shaped by a poststructuralist concern with the effects of representation. It sought to challenge familiar understandings of disadvantaged areas, the economy, community and the research process in order to open up new ways of addressing social and economic issues. The resulting four‐stage research project was informed by the techniques of asset‐based community development and action research, as well as by discourses of the diverse economy and communities of difference. During the two‐year span of the project, four community enterprises were developed. The varying degrees of success they have met with in the four years since the project concluded highlight the critical role of local agencies such as the council in providing ongoing support for such endeavours.