Mercado Bonpland and solidarity production networks in Buenos Aires, Argentina (original) (raw)

This chapter uses Mercado Bonpland, a small market organised by many self-managed organizations in Buenos Aires, as a focus for how alternative economic practices such as economic solidarity, alternative consumption, production and exchange take place. Mercado Bonpland demonstrates the many solidarity practices, both in terms of economic and collaborative organization that can take place in such spaces. The value of this chapter is that it highlights these solidarity practices, which also exist in other markets, such as those discussed in this book. In order to identify these solidarity practices, the introduction develops the history of solidarity and social economy organizing in Buenos Aires. In the second section, Mercado Bonpland operates as an important bridge linking production and consumption places, practices and collectives. In the last section the way that urban to rural production and consumption is explored in relation to national and international networks. In this way the market demonstrates the complexity of networks of solidarity economies beyond the market space itself. Our methodological approach encompasses different qualitative research into the study of markets and production conditions. This research is based on interviews and ethnographic research in Mercado Bonpland as well as with producers outside of the market.