Christian Fuentes
Professor
Infrastructuring alternative markets: Enabling local food exchange through patchworking
Author
Summary, in English
The aim of this paper is to advance our understanding of the complex material arrangements involved in the formation of AFNs by applying the concept of market infrastructure and turning our attention to the process of infrastructuring. Based on an ethnographic study of REKO rings, a network of local food markets, we show how
disparate elements, e.g. digital interfaces, parking locations, and Swish (an electronic payment system), are interconnected and configured to form the REKO ring market infrastructure patchwork – an infrastructure made by linking together previously unrelated elements and re-purposing them. We then demonstrate how this patchwork
infrastructure enables the formation of market actors, coordination of the market actors’ activities, and the qualification and valuation of foods, thereby making the exchange of alternative food possible. Our analysis of infrastructure
patchworking illustrates a different type of infrastructure-making resulting in a temporary and fragile infrastructure which, despite its instability, enables exchange. Drawing on this analysis we argue that the potential of AFNs to take form and impact contemporary modes of food provisioning cannot be understood without exploring the process of infrastructuring.
disparate elements, e.g. digital interfaces, parking locations, and Swish (an electronic payment system), are interconnected and configured to form the REKO ring market infrastructure patchwork – an infrastructure made by linking together previously unrelated elements and re-purposing them. We then demonstrate how this patchwork
infrastructure enables the formation of market actors, coordination of the market actors’ activities, and the qualification and valuation of foods, thereby making the exchange of alternative food possible. Our analysis of infrastructure
patchworking illustrates a different type of infrastructure-making resulting in a temporary and fragile infrastructure which, despite its instability, enables exchange. Drawing on this analysis we argue that the potential of AFNs to take form and impact contemporary modes of food provisioning cannot be understood without exploring the process of infrastructuring.
Department/s
- Department of Service Studies
Publishing year
2022-06-08
Language
English
Pages
13-22
Publication/Series
Journal of Rural Studies
Volume
94
Full text
- Available as PDF - 522 kB
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Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Elsevier
Topic
- Business Administration
- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
Keywords
- Alternative food networks
- Sustainability
- Infrastructure
- Sociology of markets
Status
Published
Project
- Alternative Food Markets: Promoting new modes of food provisioning and consumption
- Service Studies Consumption
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0743-0167