Publication details
Rendering actually existing economic alternatives visible: post-socialist sharing networks in Czechia
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| Year of publication | 2015 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | The spaces of traditional sharing economies in the global North have largely been left outside the growing academic interest in economic alternatives. In post-socialist countries the market triumphalism, promotion of individualism and consumerist lifestyles and the desire to set a clear break with the socialist past have also resulted in depreciation of traditional sharing economies in the media and public policy discourse. In spite of this, a range of everyday needs are still being met by non-market practices. Examples of such activities include household food production and mutual help in construction of houses. The extent of such traditional non-market, or less-than-market economies, and the proportion of population involved, exceed significantly the extent of alternative economic innovations that attract far greater attention of the research community. The aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly, to investigate the extent of Czech traditional sharing economies and to identify the patterns of their spatial networks. Secondly, to examine the motivations for participation in these informal economic practices. The magnitude of the sharing economy was determined by the large-scale questionnaire-based survey of Czech households. Focus groups and in-depth interviews were employed to uncover the motivations for people’s involvement in the sharing economy. The results have revealed that some types of food self-provisioning practices and exchanges of household products and labour are a common occurrence within both urban and rural Czech social networks. The motivations for participation in sharing economies are less economic and more social and cultural: enjoyment, tradition and pride in abilities and skills. |
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