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Drawing from seven months of fieldwork among independent artists and their communities in Guangzhou, China, in 2020–2021, this paper investigates the feminist alternative practices in response to the experiences of gender marginalisation of independent artists. Along with being sexualised and discouraged by some of their art colleagues and the public, there has been an emergence of alternative practices among female independent artists in Guangzhou, including alternative art production, space cultivation, and community development. Alternative art practices have not only diversified the expression and representation of female artists; they have also helped female and non-binary people connect to discuss gender-related issues and provide mutual support. Altogether, these expanding feminist practices, spaces, and communities have yielded everyday life strategies to negotiate and contest existing patriarchal conventions and imbalanced power relationships. My account also offers a view of changing gender politics within art communities in Guangzhou's independent art field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The great environmental and social challenges of recent decades have questioned the hegemony of growth-oriented development and its objectives. Those critiques reexamined growth-based policies and strategies, leading to 'alternative development' pathways, the most prominent being sustainable development. Nevertheless, critical scholars have problematized those perceptions and practices, repoliticizing the question of development, connecting it with issues of social and environmental justice and supporting 'alternatives to development'. Building on such perspectives, primarily the degrowth literature, this paper connects alternatives to development to the question of space, analyzing the practices of three makerspaces in peripheral Greece, as potentially alternative economic and political spaces. It explores how an alternative normative framework appears in these spaces; and illuminates practices connected to commons, care, and community as seeds for the emergence of holistically alternative futures. That way the study cherishes sustainability perspectives that problematize social and environmental justice and do not propose only technical solutions, but deep political transformations and normative shifts in the 'here and now'. • Sustainability is usually perceived as a depoliticized technical issue. • Alternative economic and political spaces could foster alternative, beyond-growth futures. • Makerspaces are potentially alternative spaces for alternative futures. • Alternative spaces could foster also alternative norms and values through their daily practices. • Alternative practices could be connected to commons, care and community perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between the financial crisis of 2007-2008 and the pandemic crisis of Covid-19, the Anjos neighborhood in Lisbon presented a particular concentration of public spaces offering concerts, exhibitions, dance classes, bars, etc. Many of these spaces are non-profit and promote cultural democracy thus fighting gentrification. From visits to the neighborhood, document analysis and interviews with board members, volunteers and other key actors, we identify two ideal-types of these spaces' missions: the cultural-entertainment and the cultural-activist. We conclude by pointing out that both allow us henceforth to monitor the influence of the participation of these spaces in urban reconfiguration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between the start of the financial crisis (2007-08) and the pandemic crisis (2020-), Lisbon was at its peak as a fashionable European tourist destination. During this period, in a singular concentration in the Portuguese capital, associations and other collectives proliferated as alternative spaces, overlapping political and cultural action. In this dossier, through a qualitative methodology of ethnographic nature, we show that these spaces form a model of urban development of their own. If, since the 1970s, alternative spaces have played a role in resisting gentrification in several western countries, the case of Lisbon stands out for its contrast with a national context of weak civic participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is primarily concerned with examining Tony Kushner's play Angels in America through the lens of "magical realism": the literary synthesis/coexistence of realism with elements of fantasy or the unknown. Because the play is saturated with moments that confuse normative reality with the "supernatural" world of angels and ghosts, I argue that the genre of magical realism can offer rich perspectives on how marginalized ideologies challenge dominant ideologies presented throughout Angels. Angels is set in the 1980s - a time of great redefinition for homosexuals and of AIDS as a disease - and consequently addresses related cultural situations and challenges. I focus on the character of Prior Walter, a homosexual, AIDS-infected "prophet" who becomes a provocative locus for simultaneously "imagined" and "real" spiritual activity in Angels. Through Prior's progressive spiritual encounters throughout Millennium Approaches and Perestroika, I argue that Kushner uses Prior to model a discursive, metaphorical, and literal movement away from narrow, exclusive perspectives of the unknown (what I call the "marginalized spiritual") and toward an acceptance of that unknown. Many of the critically-noted binaries in the play can be explained in this light, and although I remain focused on the issues related to Prior (i.e. spirituality and religion), I finally suggest that the complex reception of Angels can be more effectively reconciled through a magical realist approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the ideological backgrounds, normative motivations, and the degrees of alterity among makerspaces in Germany. It does so by connecting the question of alterity to discussions on development, and exploring to what extent and in which ways makerspaces aim to challenge the hegemony of traditional growth-oriented development. The study engages with a broad literature to conceptualize development as a hegemonic discourse and present main lines of thought that aim to challenge it. In parallel, it presents the history and diverse trajectories of makerspaces and the makers' movement in Germany and beyond, rendering the question of their ideological backgrounds and their level of alterity as open. Empirically, the work engages with the Verbund Offener Werkstätten (Association for Open Workshops) and analyzes the content and language by which makerspaces – members of the association – describe themselves in their digital communication. Finally, the study proposes a new categorization for makerspaces – that can be generalized to other alternative spaces – regarding their level of alterity and degree of reproduction or opposition to the hegemonic views, values, and norms of growth-driven development. Through the engagement of diverse literature and analysis of the aforementioned digital texts, this paper offers important insights regarding: a) makerspaces' alterity in relation to their typology and geographical location; b) the importance of analyzing the discursive practices of alternative economic and political spaces; and c) the transformative potential of alternative spaces in Germany and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Arte y Políticas de Identidad is the property of Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Murcia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

It is well known that the development of alternative spaces in the United States during the 1970s benefited from government subsidies. However, either this fact is downplayed because it seems to taint the image of radical subversion on which the prestige of these spaces is based; or it is criticized as one of the main causes of the institutionalization of the alternative scene, or even as a pernicious way to co-opt and neutralize it. In this article, I examine in more detail the programs set up to support alternative spaces by the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts. I also study the interesting case of Artists Space, an alternative space that was directly founded by the second of these two government agencies. I show that this public support, far from having betrayed the original spirit of alternative spaces, has been from their beginnings a necessary condition for their development. This implies revising or, at least, qualifying the common narratives of an institutionalization or a co-option of the alternative spaces by the "art establishment." However, this unexpected assistance from the state, traditionally rather hostile to experimental art, did result in eroding the critical and antagonistic dimension of the alternative (or avant-garde) art scene – but not in the way it is usually portrayed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several non-profit cultural organisations opened up public spaces during the financial crisis in Lisbon with a particular concentration in the Anjos neighbourhood. These organisations promote different activities, ranging from debates, exibitions, traditional dancing, activist cinema to bars. This article aims to convey the transformative role they played for individuals, the neighbourhood and the city. Although facing challenges over organisational sustainability as they are not publicly funded, these organisations do seem to have reinvented the mission of the century-old recreational societies through their convivial and transdisciplinary activities. Based on documental analysis and interviews with different actors, we map this vibrant neighbourhood and show that these hybrid organisations represent what cultural democracy may today look like, while providing resilient responses to the contextual challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is primarily concerned with examining Tony Kushner's play Angels in America through the lens of "magical realism": the literary synthesis/coexistence of realism with elements of fantasy or the unknown. Because the play is saturated with moments that confuse normative reality with the "supernatural" world of angels and ghosts, I argue that the genre of magical realism can offer rich perspectives on how marginalized ideologies challenge dominant ideologies presented throughout Angels. Angels is set in the 1980s - a time of great redefinition for homosexuals and of AIDS as a disease - and consequently addresses related cultural situations and challenges. I focus on the character of Prior Walter, a homosexual, AIDS-infected "prophet" who becomes a provocative locus for simultaneously "imagined" and "real" spiritual activity in Angels. Through Prior's progressive spiritual encounters throughout Millennium Approaches and Perestroika, I argue that Kushner uses Prior to model a discursive, metaphorical, and literal movement away from narrow, exclusive perspectives of the unknown (what I call the "marginalized spiritual") and toward an acceptance of that unknown. Many of the critically-noted binaries in the play can be explained in this light, and although I remain focused on the issues related to Prior (i.e. spirituality and religion), I finally suggest that the complex reception of Angels can be more effectively reconciled through a magical realist approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pedagogical dimension of volunteer tourism (VT) is often used to position volunteering as an alternative form of tourism. Many researchers seeking to understand the expansion and benefits of VT have approached the practice through the frameworks of transformative learning and global citizenship education. These forms of education have been criticized by pedagogy and tourism scholars alike as they reproduce an elitist neo-liberal system that positions the needs and desires of volunteers before those of host-community members. The case of Sólheimar eco-village, Iceland, is used to explore the role of the host-community during volunteer tourist experiences aimed at fostering global citizenship. While it is observed that the needs of volunteers are often prioritized, the community members of the eco-village are nonetheless significant actors in the transformative education process of these volunteers. The ability of community-members to provoke reflection amongst volunteers over their complex position as members (albeit transient) of an eco-village represents a form of learning based in critical thinking. By acknowledging the role of the host during VT encounters, researchers can avoid fixing the meaning of transformative learning and global citizenship in ways that reproduce volunteer-centric discourses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores what alternative, or artist-led, spaces are in Mumbai today and their role within the city’s artworld. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in two alternative spaces, it argues that these are artist attempts to exercise agency in their work for an uncertain market context. In other words, these spaces are a strategy for artists to exercise control over their work in an uncertain art market, and a means to counterbalance their dependence on galleries in their careers. Furthermore, artists do so through collectivist practices. These spaces, I argue, challenge models of artistic and neoliberal work that privilege autonomy, independence, and isolation, as if artists were self-contained silos of productive creative activity and will. Artists instead, in these spaces, insist on the importance of social bonds and connection as a challenge to the instrumentalization and divisive nature of market-led demands on art practice and the model of the solo genius artist-producer. At the same time, their collective activities are oriented towards supporting artists’ individual future market success, suggesting that artist-led spaces are not separate from the art market, and should be considered within the same analytical frame.

This paper analyses the experimental nature of alternative spaces and the affective, emotional and embodied experience their enactment generates. In so doing, it grounds the analysis on the intentional community of Damanhur (Italy), as an example of experimental spaces. Scholarship concerning intentional communities draws on utopian studies that consider them as utopian laboratories. More recently, non‐representational approaches have emphasised the processual nature of utopias, yet studies have overlooked the experimental nature of these alternative spaces. Drawing upon in‐depth ethnographic data, this paper engages with community experimentations that took place in Damanhur for residents and visitors. It illustrates how utopian enactment is experimental and thus, disordering, unsettling and creative. Moreover, I argue that experimentations are not limited to unsettling the social structure of the community and, when studying the enactment of alternative spaces, emphasis should also be on their capacity to affect the individual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how post-New Order Indonesia has seen a declined emphasis on government legitimization and an increased emphasis on the power of the populace. In this situation, the populace (society) has the opportunity to perform articulation and politicization from a variety of aspects. Society redefines and reidentifies itself through various negotiations of primordiality, locality, nationality, and globality. Many groups take their own initiative and use their own methods to reach their goals and protect their interests. In creating art, society is generally oriented towards art as business or a politicaleconomic act, such that the role of art in promoting social and national development is considered insignificant. The State is impeded in determining its own capacity, competence, and authority. Society acts "without control", or more specifically without control from the State. The numerous dichotomies in society continually create opposition and conflict, which stunts the development process. The State should be able to diffuse these various dichotomies by utilizing alternative spaces, third spaces - such as art and literature. In these alternative spaces, it is hoped that negotiation and consolidation can be conducted in a more democratic and dignified manner. Abstrak Tulisan ini berusaha menjelaskan bahwa pada masa pasca Orde Baru negara mengalami penurunan legitimasi dan posisi masyarakat menguat. Dalam situasi itu, masyarakat mendapat kesempatan untuk melakukan berbagai artikulasi dan politisasi dalam berbagai aspeknya. Masyarakat mendefinisikan dan mengidentifikasi dirinya kembali dalam berbagai negosiasi primordialitas, lokalitas, nasionalitas, dan globalitas. Banyak kelompok warga mengambil inisiatif dan cara sendiri-sendiri dalam mencapai tujuan dan kepentingannya. Dalam praktik berkesenian, masyarakat mengambil inisiatif lebih dalam orientasi bisnis atau politik-ekonomi sehingga partisipasi kesenian dalam proses peningkatan kualitas bermasyarakat dan bernegara dianggap tidak signifikan. Negara mengalami kegagapan dalam menentukan kapasitas, kompetensi, dan otoritas dirinya. Masyarakat berjalan “tanpa kontrol” yang berarti dari negara. Berbagai dikotomi dalam masyarakat terus memicu berbagai pertentangan dan konflik yang tidak kondusif bagi proses pembangunan. Hal yang selayaknya dimainkan oleh negara adalah mencairkan berbagai dikotomi tersebut dengan memanfaatkan ruang alternatif, ruang ketiga, dalam hal itu ruang kesenian/sastra. Dalam ruang alternatif tersebutlah berbagai negosiasi dan konsolidasi diharapkan dapat terjadi secara lebih demokratis dan bermartabat.

Although the origins of the theoretical debate regarding political–economic alternatives are as old as Proudhon, Marx and Engels, discussion concerning alternative economic and political spaces has come to the foreground very recently. More specifically, in the field of geography the most influential approach has been that associated with work on diverse economies, developed initially by Gibson-Graham. Research in this area has increased at a significant rate, revealing a multitude of practices in what we call the hidden ‘neverland’ all over the world, while simultaneously posing a number of new and open questions. This article begins with a review of the main theoretical, methodological and epistemological assumptions underpinning the diverse economies approach. This is followed by a discussion of four concrete types of diverse/alternative spaces; those in post-socialist countries, alternative exchange networks, alternative food networks and the Mondragon cooperative corporation in Spain. The article concludes by arguing that while the debate on alternative and diverse economies may reflect a willingness on the part of the scholars to cooperate in order to build a postcapitalist future, it is also necessary to consider the possibilities and constraints operating at different scales, from individual to global, in order to consider the extent to which alternatives may be successful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the hope of providing an inspirational example paper presents examples of libraries operating at alternative spaces. Libraries at two airports, at the boat and in the underground railway system are depicted in an effort to provide examples of best practice because possibilities in this area numerous and still mostly unused. By following patrons to these alternative spaces libraries have increased the usability and widened the range of their target user groups. In order to accommodate specific target user groups i.e. travelers these libraries had to develop expertise in collection development in regards to usage of paper and electronic resources and also the media by which electronic resources are delivered to users. Heavy usage of electronic reading devices like iPADs at these libraries should be illustrative and inspirational for libraries based at classical spaces on how tackling users needs and expectations change the tools for librarians' everyday working tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cuadernos del CENDES is the property of Universidad Central de Venezuela and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper's focus is what we call 'autonomous geographies' – spaces where there is a desire to constitute non-capitalist, collective forms of politics, identity and citizenship. These are created through a combination of resistance and creation, and a questioning and challenging of dominant laws and social norms. The concept of autonomy permits a better understanding of activists' aims, practices and achievements in alter-globalization movements. We explore how autonomous geographies are multiscalar strategies that weave together spaces and times, constituting in-between and overlapping spaces, blending resistance and creation, and combining theory and practice. We flesh out two examples of how autonomous geographies are made through collective decision-making and autonomous social centres. Autonomous geographies provide a useful toolkit for understanding how spectacular protest and everyday life are combined to brew workable alternatives to life beyond capitalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alternative spaces for the consumption of non-conventional foods as short commercialization chains have been increased worldwide, as well as the interest in understanding the dynamics developed in those initiatives from a social approach, has increased. This work aimed to analyze the Organizers, Producers and Consumers' perceptions that participate in short food supply chains in ecological markets in the south of Spain. The Conventions Theory framework was used by applying a quantitative and qualitative methodology. A total of 159 questionnaires were applied (three to Organizers, 15 to Producers and 177 to Consumers). The questionnaire considered items related to social conventions for seven worlds (Domestic, Civic, Market, Industrial, Opinion and Inspired) and sociodemographic information. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests were used to analyze the information. Results show that coincidences and divergences are observed in the importance given to the worlds; the Civic, Inspired and Opinion worlds are perceived similarly by the three types of actors and are related to the interest in how these activities benefit the environment. Differences are attributed to the role played by each type of actor and to socioeconomic aspects. Results can materialize into different strategies to improve these initiatives and reach more consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores what alternative, or artist-led, spaces are in Mumbai today and their role within the city's artworld. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in two alternative spaces, it argues that these are artist attempts to exercise agency in their work for an uncertain market context. In other words, these spaces are a strategy for artists to exercise control over their work in an uncertain art market, and a means to counterbalance their dependence on galleries in their careers. Furthermore, artists do so through collectivist practices. These spaces, I argue, challenge models of artistic and neoliberal work that privilege autonomy, independence, and isolation, as if artists were self-contained silos of productive creative activity and will. Artists instead, in these spaces, insist on the importance of social bonds and connection as a challenge to the instrumentalization and divisive nature of market-led demands on art practice and the model of the solo genius artist-producer. At the same time, their collective activities are oriented towards supporting artists' individual future market success, suggesting that artist-led spaces are not separate from the art market, and should be considered within the same analytical frame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uma das características mais marcantes do período moderno foi a da concepção de um tempo longo, no qual eram possíveis a conquista do espaço e o planejamento do futuro. Já na contemporaneidade, a diacronia moderna dá lugar a um eterno presente. Neste presente, espaços sincrônicos se multiplicam. As novas tecnologias da informação e telecomunicação, principalmente a Internet e a telefonia celular, introduzem alterações nos espaços físicos e geram espaços alternativos a estes. Neste artigo é realizada uma revisão, forçosamente incompleta, da extensa literatura transdisciplinar sobre esses novos espaços contemporâneos e seus efeitos sobre os homens, mulheres e crianças que neles vivem.