The Subsistence Perspective
Beyond the Globalised Economy

Two leading feminist thinkers, posing a radical alternative to the current free-market industrial system, show how if we are to survive, economies must become needs-based, environmentally sustainable, co-operative and local. They call instead for a new politics and economics based on subsistence.

Two leading feminist thinkers, posing a radical alternative to the current free-market industrial system, show how if we are to survive, economies must become needs-based, environmentally sustainable, co-operative and local. They explain how the current capitalist system is none of these things, is inherently unstable and is dependent on the exploitation of various marginalized groups, particularly women, and of the environment. They call instead for a new politics and economics based on subsistence and, drawing on practical examples from Africa, Latin America and Europe, show how this principle can and does have a positive effect on market exchange. The book demonstrates how development only works when it is done from the bottom up and concludes with a call for a new politics based on this view from below.

The history of the subsistence approach
globalization and subsistence approach - the "black holes" of the globalized economy, main features of a new subsistence paradigm
subsistence and agriculture - Agnes and Lisbeth - the land in women's hands, the perspective of the peasant economy
subsistence and the market
subsistence in the city
defending, reclaiming and reinventing the commons
wage-labour and subsistence
women's liberation and subsistence
subsistence and politics.