Understanding the Process and Complex Dynamics of Mutual Aid
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UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESS AND COMPLEX DYNAMICS OF MUTUAL AID Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy At the University of Leicester by Richard James White BA (Leicester) MSc (Leicester) Department of Geography University of Leicester 2006 UMI Number: U219763 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U219763 Published by ProQuest LLC 2013. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Abstract Understanding the process and complex dynamics of mutual aid Richard James White In recent years, there has been a great deal of interest and commitment from both academic and wider policy-making circles in the meso and micro-levels of production and exchange in society. To this end, theoretical and empirical research has led to a more penetrative understanding of the cultural and social embeddedness of economic spaces. By bringing into focus the informal economic sphere, this in turn has placed activities conducted through mutual aid firmly under the academic and policy-making spotlight. From an academic perspective however, it is clear that comparatively little is known about mutual aid, though significant progress has been made on mapping its more quantitative dimensions, such as its extent, character, social embeddedness and the key barriers that obstruct greater participation. This particular focus has exposed many prejudices about exchange in society, not least by providing evidence that mutual aid is far from a marginal or residual realm of daily life in advanced economies, and has resulted in the emergence of mutual aid as both a legitimate and serious focus for research to explore. Through an in-depth case study of two urban areas in Leicester (England), the robustness of contemporary research will be tested by highlighting existing geographies of mutual aid. More fundamentally though, the discussion will depart from this into relatively uncharted territories by embracing the next significant phase of research on mutual aid. This involves engaging with a deeper and more qualitative understanding of the complex dynamics which underpin the geographies of mutual aid, and are themselves engaged through the process of mutual aid. By focusing on the social dynamics of mutual aid; the internal dynamics of mutual aid; the notion of space, place and mutual aid; and the question as to why mutual aid is so pervasive in the advanced economies, a more complicated and dynamic understanding of mutual aid in advanced economies emerges. Acknowledgements I am indebted to a great many people but most especially to those who supported me throughout my PhD, and never doubted that this thesis would finally see the light of day. My deepest thanks are extended to Professor Danny Burns and Dr. Angus Cameron. Both individually and collectively they have helped lay much of the foundation that the research has taken its strength and inspiration from, especially over the last twelve months. However, I would like to reserve a special mention for Professor Colin Williams. Colin’s role in my on going academic development from an undergraduate to a doctoral student cannot be underestimated, least of all by myself. I have been extremely fortunate to have benefited time and again from his extensive knowledge, advice, enthusiasm and leadership on a wide range of issues. For that I will be forever grateful. Indeed, though I believe that this thesis builds constructively upon many of Colin’s own arguments, I also hope that it reflects the encouragement that he has given me to find my own academic voice, and make that voice heard clearly through the research I have engaged with. Finally, a personal message for Rachel and Matilda Grace: this thesis is undoubtedly a testament to the unconditional love and happiness that you have both brought to my world. I look forward - very much - to climbing many future Everests (both academic and non- academic) with you both by my side. Dedication This PhD is dedicated to the memory of Irene Galloway (1913 - 2003) Though you constantly regretted never having had the opportunity to be better educated, you will always be the best teacher that your grandsons could have wished for. I hope that by becoming a Doctor I have achieved something which you would have been as proud of as I am myself. Frontispiece “Wherever I saw animal life in abundance, as, for instance, on the lakes where scores of species and millions of individuals came together to rear their progeny; in the colonies of rodents; in the migrations of birds which took place at that time on a truly American scale along the Usuri; and specially in a migration of fallow-deer which I witnessed on the Amur, and during which scores of thousands of these intelligent animals came together from an immense territory, flying before the coming deep snow, in order to cross the Amur where it is narrowest -- in all these scenes of animal life which passed before my eyes, I saw Mutual Aid and Mutual Support carried on to an extent which made me suspect in it a feature of the greatest importance for the maintenance of life, the preservation of each species, and its further evolution.” Piotr Kropotkin, (1902: 13) Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution Table of Contents Abstract..................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements................................................................................................................. iii Dedication................................................................................................................................. iii Frontispiece.............................................................................................................................. iv Table of Contents......................................................................................................................v List of Tables............................................................................................. xii List of Figures........................................................................................................................xiii Chapter 1: Introduction............................................................................................................1 Introduction.................................... 1 1.1. Contextualising the thesis............................................................................................... 2 1.1.1. Moving through the geographies of mutual aid into new territories.......................... 3 1.2. Aims and objectives of the thesis.................................................................................. 3 1.3. Structure of the thesis..................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 2: Mutual Aid...............................................................................................................8 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 8 2.1. Mutual aid: a sum of its parts .......................................................................................... 9 2.2. Mutual aid: a factor of evolution .................................................................................... 10 2.2.1. Co-operation and mutual aid: a social economic perspective .............................. 10 2.2.2. Competition and mutual aid: a capitalist perspective .............................................12 2.3. Understanding mutual aid as an alternate economic space ..........................................14 2.3.1. Informal economic activities and mutual aid .......................................................... 15 2.3.2. Formal mutual aid and informal mutual aid ............................................................ 17 2.3.3. Paid mutual aid ........................................................................................................18 2.4. Empirical research focused on mutual a id ................................................................... 20 2.4.1. Extent and character of mutual aid .........................................................................21 2.4.2. Rationales for participation ....................... 22 2.4.3. Barriers to participation in mutual a id .................................................................... 24 2.5. Harnessing mutual aid: cultures of community involvement ........................................26 2.6. Gaps in knowledge and understanding: the need to understand the process and complex dynamics of mutual aid .......................................................................................... 30 2.7. Conclusions ....................................................................................................................30 Chapter 3: Social Capital....................................................................................................... 32 Introduction ............................................................................................................................32