EXPERT Camille Sciuto: Alternative Places : New ways of local, fair and sustainable cooperation

Interest of the subject

Good morning everyone!

My name is Camille Sciuto and I graduated from the IHEAL (Latin American Superior Studies Institute) with a Master's degree in « Métiers de la Coopération et du Développement ».

I would like to share with you my experiences of some communities I worked and lived in.

Three years ago, I started to study Alternative Places and Sutainable local development.

My main idea is: Developing countries have the unique opportunity to build another type of development: more local, more sustainable than the eurocentric capitalist model.

But the reality of neoliberal imperialism dictates other rules...

The international organizations: World Trade Organization, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, create rules depending if you are a rich country in the North or a poor country in the South. As long as the domination of the North over the South exists, with the exportation from the North to the South of the pollution, no emancipation can be achieved. (Read the reports by ATTAC and the collection Alternatives Sud of the CETRI to understand that kind of injustice).

Into that huge dead end, I decided to start with the “new pocket of resistance even in the North”.

My research led me to discover an Alternative Place called: “Le Bistrot des Citoyens du Monde” in Mûr-Erigné Maine-et-Loire France.

I found in this place three values of an Alternative Place: social interaction, social utility, and environmental issues.

Defining the terminology

In what way could A.P.s be an answer to achieve local and sustainable development?

What do I mean by: “local and sustainable development”, “commons”, and “Alternative Places” ?

What is “Development”?

As everyone knows, the concept of development is a process to progress positively from one level of life to another level, higher than the first.

Questions :

– Why do we have to quit the concept of development?

– Increasing constantly could it be compatible with a finite world?

Well, the terminology proposed by the world for now is “development”. I ask myself to see how the concept of development could be changed by an other concept: “cooperation”.

You all know what sustainable development is! Basically, local and sustainable development is a set of practices contributing to the well-being of a society or a comunity and its environment at a very local level. It can be a department, a city, a village, or a district. It means a strong interconnection between all the actors and socio-economic elements of a territory. This interconnection promotes all types of exchanges (economic, social, cultural, political) in a logic of geographical proximity: the local ; and preservation of the environment: the sustainable. Fundamentally, it's about solidarity, people trusting each other to create a cooperation which will be sustainable (for the planet) and local (for the people).

Commons

A common is defined by Elinor Ostrom according to two criteria. First, it is a rival good. That means, not everyone can access in the same proportion to the good. Second, the good consumption cannot be regulated. For example, a bottle of water is on the table. One individual is at the table, so he can drink all the water. There will not be none left for other individuals. This is the principle of a rival good. A regulation by legislative way is not possible, the law cannot condemn the individual for having drunk the whole bottle: it is the principle of regulation (difficult if not impossible). The way can be to create a dialogue between all individuals around the table. They agree on a regulation, deciding a local rule, which can be: “the bottle of water has to be shared fairly between the users” or “whoever finishes the bottle must find a way to refill it”. A local rule permits a regulating consumption of a rival good. Alternative Places and autonomous comunities are places where people try to well-manage commons.

Alternatives Places

We use capital letters to create an acronym grouping all the localized forms that alternative initiatives take. This acronym includes different types of places: Recycling site, FabLab, Selling without a middle man from the producer to the consumer directly, Citizen-run shop, food cooperative, popular or People's University, etc. The main caracteristics of an Alternative Place are:

– An initiating group carrying the idea of the project. An Alternative Place is the product of a "citizen initiative", therefore managed by a collective.

– It is innovating, proposing a new element to the territory, a “collective alternative” (the collective sphere) to the socio-polico-economical dominant system (the public and private spheres).

– The notion of geographical proximity, including a conection to the immediate territory: it has a local postal address that allows spatialization of the place as an anchoring process in the territory. This territorial registration allows the meeting of its actors. Except for dematerialized Alternative Places such as Wikipedia.

– Often without lucrativity...

– ... but looking for self-financing, to establish a form of self-sufficiency.

Thanks to my study of a Recycling site “l'EcoCyclerie des Mauges” in Maine-et-Loire, comparing the two places, I discovered two more risks and three universal values or I could say “issues”, adding to the three internal issues. I recap the three internal issue:

- social interaction;

- social utility;

- environnement protection.

In what way are Alternative Places a local answer to promote sustainable development?

– Because they, as alternatives coming from Alter-Globalisation, consist of new forms of social organization, based on sustainable, local and collective development: an ideal of a socially just world, environmentally sustainable, collective and fair.

– Because they put back as a central question and are a concrete realization of the ideal of common goods (agriculture, recycling and reuse of waste, sharing knowledge...).

Alternative Places are the Northern "new pockets of resistance to ideological tyranny" of neoliberal imperialism (Tandon Yash, 2016 : 33).

Each citizen can discover the Alternative Places directly close to their place of life and decide to join the movement. = Think global, Act local.

Building an Alternative Place

An Alternative Place takes place in the collective action sphere.

At first, an A.P comes from an idea held by a collective. A part of this collective is called “Initiator group”. It means the group who initiates the A.P, who are holding the idea and begining/initiating the project. The collective is also formed by the group of volunteers and employees. Initiator group, employees, volunteers form the collective. The collective assume the management of the Alternative Place. It is run collectively into the collective action sphere.

Every single person must participate in each group, proposing his abilities: "leadership ability" for the Initiator group, “workable abilities” for employees or volunteer groups.

What I have seen :

The risk of closing the collective. If the group is on a way "We accept only someone who seems like us", it sadly leads to a closed-minded place where new individuals are not admitted, and can't have a role in the internal democracy. The co-owner of the "Bistrot des Citoyens du Monde" was very aware of this risk and to prevent it, was always looking for new customers and new volunteers.

Joining the Social and Solidarity Economy principles: it's a local answer to the global problems.

The place is run according to the principles of Social and Solidarity Economy.

I draw two concepts from the elements of Social and Solidarity Economy: Internal democracy, and Self-financing issue. An Alternative Place needs to establish the two concepts to create its own sustainability, it means building its own perenial.

Why?:

Because these elements (Internal democracy, and Self-financing) are an essential part of the place to ensure the general interest.

The place needs to build an autonomous micro-world thanks to the Social and Solidarity Economy elements of an Internal democracy:

- Status;

- Democratic management;

- Free-membership.

The major risk linked to the internal democracy is the personnification of the struggle. That means the appropriation by one-self individual of the project and the place.

The major issue linked to the internal democracy is the Cooperation between every member of the place. It means a cooperation: an operation, action, collective.

Added to this, the place needs to build self-financing which means create a financially auto-sustainable model built around:

- Non-capitalist principles;

- Sharing of the profits;

- Pooling resources;

-Third sector: elements of Social and Solidarity Economy. 

The economic construction of the place must aim at financial autonomy which will ensure the viability of the place and will allow intellectual independence.

Territorial anchorage of alternatives places

The relation of an A.P. with the territory is called Territorial anchorage: How an Alternative Place is linked to its territory. The actors of the territory are grouped in the public and private spheres. This includes Companies: private actors; and Local authorities and Institution: public actors. The anchorage includes an interconnexion between the A.P. and the public and private spheres. The A.P. provides added value to the territory and the territory can bring financial support and/or non-financial goods. The relation between the collective sphere and private and public sphere can be peaceful or conflictual.

The social role of an Alternative Place

Three roles can be assumed by the A.P. according to Laville et ali, 2005:

– Transformers of a society – You propose an other maneer of living: it's their social role.

– Crisis absorder – You help to make a crisis situation less bad: it's the economic role.

– Territory regulator – You become an actor who speak to the public sphere: it's the political role.

But that also leads to the risk of decreasing commitment of the State in society's issues and problems. The State doesn't need to resolve social problems anymore because the Alternative Place solves it on its own.

My personal commitment

For example, in Sauxillanges, Puy de Dôme, when they decided to close the "8 à 8", in the center of the village, inmediately there was a reaction by the citizens: a citizen's initiative.

That means that some Sauxillanges inhabitants thought: “We are about to kill the heart of the village, so we have to react!”

And the reaction aims to create a citizen shop. So a shop which sells local and organic products. The products can be local and organic, or come from the international but organic or local non-organic.

This is an answer to the death of the heart of the village, thanks to the creation of a place, not only to sell organic and local food and goods, but also for social interaction, with a citizen cafe next to the shop.

In fact, the citizen shop, held by the inhabitants of Sauxillanges, has become a “means for people to exercice their freedom” (Nogues, 2014). The freedom of action is what, all of us, have at local level to react to a global problem which is, in this case, the desertification of the centers of the villages.

People get involved in local action because they can; fighting for global causes is too difficult for most people.

It is not really a global and coordinated struggle: “Hey, here we go, everyone at the same time fighting!” It is more the search for a social link, local life.

In fact, the world is so virtual, so far from us, inaccessible, that we find populations who are looking for social interaction, social utility, looking for struggle to protect the environment. This local issue exists in the Alternative Places. But if it is local, it's also a universal issue.

Universal issues that exist will be first a solidarity of proximity: that means, if I can't help the person in need on the other side of the world, I surely can involve myself in a local association to help the refugees, or the homeless of my town. Solidarity of proximity is a universal issue because we won't only do International solidarity, great cooperation project, to save the whole world but we will be helping the 3 or 4 individuals who are in our close circle. The action is local, but the purpose is universal: that's called solidarity of proximity.

The second universal issue is the economy of conviviality. Once again it means social utility, social link, to meet each other, to have a good day. Le Café des Augustes is a good example of this issue. This bar does Popular University conferences, very interesting, about many subjects, which are free or free-participation. The idea is to share some good moments. The consumption are local and you share knowledge.

You can all choose the commitment that you like the most. I have chosen Alter-globalisation that's why my two reports are about this theme.

Can we propose a successful alternative to the neoliberal capitalist system? It's a topic that has been widely studied by social scientists from the South.

Do we have to find a unique alternative which will replace it? Or can we find several alternatives which will constitute new models which we can add to the dominant model. I mean, it will be very hard to destroy entirely neoliberal capitalism. Is it really a good thing to try to destroy this system? It is a huge question that we have to ask before doing the experience...

Moreover, Alter-globalisation can be a diversity of ways of life, ways of management, which will be different from the capitalist system. That allows us to get out of this system and build micro-sphere, micro-societies based on solidarity, equality and fairness. I spent three months in Guatemala and I want to leave in July to spend six months in all Latin-America. My purpose is to meet several alternatives. More with the idea of exchange about other possibilities to quit capitalism, a system which can no longer be accepted.

The only thing that we hear about Coronavirus on television or radio is: “Oh my god, the economy is collapsing!”. That's awesome good news! Because an economy built on inequality and unfairness has to collapse! This “Oh, my god!” shows the end and ultimate scream of a system which is proving its inability.

Is it the main world interest: to save this system? Just have a look at external debts that developing countries have to pay, whereas they face the virus. To maintain multinational enterprises who have built an oligopole at the international level and which will never collapse. The French government is giving 20 billion euros to multinationals but only 2 billion euros to the poorest: isn't it scandalous!?

The idea is: “Can you just imagine another way?”

Ok, calling for a boycott is prohibited in France, the supposed country of human and citizens' rights, so I won't be calling for a boycott, just let you think about your own consumption. We can, all of us, imagine new ways of life... For example, I want to go back to Latin America for 6 months to meet other communities; I wonder if I can go there in a sailboat...

Anther form of commitment: the food we consume. We can verify behind each cake packet that it is free from soya because soya, we all know, is cultivated in Latin America, particularly in Brazil. Soya is always genetically modified because organic soya no longer exists. Maybe it exists in one or two permacultural farms but the soya of transformed products is genetically modified. Normal soya has been eradicated. Moreover, if everyone boycotts the products made with genetically modified soya from Brazil, surely this will provoque unemployment and create poverty because the farm owners and their employees will lose their jobs if no one buys their soya. But these people will have to find alternatives! Maybe making profits from the plants in the Amazonian forest?

The Amazonian forest didn't burnt because of a lightning bolt and the fire spread. The Amazonian forest burnt because of land owners who wanted to exploit more soya. We have to open our eyes on this reality. The land owners were encouraged by the government policy of Bolsonaro who thinks that global warming doesn't exist and, "by the way: to save a primary forest doesn't make any sense!". At the same time, France and Europe import soya. The responsability is shared. I propose you ask yourself the good questions behind your own goods' consumption...

And this goal would only be made by collective action localized individually. It means that every single inhabitant has his own responsability in the common action, the global action.

So our responsability is here. That means, at the moment you turn back your cake's packet and you see writen "soya" (modified or not, whatever, they can write both) or "palm oil" or whatever you have information and you perfectly know that it is a bad product, then you are responsible, it is your choice for buying it or not. Be aware of the consequences or your choices. Everyone needs to act at every opportunity, every scale, every possibility. This is my commitment message...