The Trojan Unicorn? Community in TTN

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THE TROJAN UNICORN? COMMUNITY IN TTN Gerald Aiken Durham University

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Page 1: The Trojan Unicorn? Community in TTN

THE TROJAN UNICORN? COMMUNITY IN TTN

Gerald Aiken Durham University

Page 2: The Trojan Unicorn? Community in TTN

“Many radical political organizations founder on the desire for community. Too often people in groups working for social change take mutual friendship to be the goal of the group, and thus judge themselves wanting as a group when they do not achieve such commonality. Such a desire for community often channels energy away from the political goals of the group, and produces a clique atmosphere which keeps groups small and turns away potential members.” 

~ Iris Marion Young

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“Community is nearly impossible in a highly monetized society like our own. That is because community is woven from gifts, which is ultimately why poor people often have stronger communities than rich people. If you are financially independent, then you really don't depend on your neighbors—or indeed on any specific person—for anything. You can just pay someone to do it, or pay someone else to do it.”

~ Transition Newsletter, Quote of the Month Jan ‘12

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Governance by Community Neo-liberalism, rollback of the state The State has ideological & fiscal reasons

not to intervene Enter ‘community’

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Community and Environmental Governance

‘Foucauldian’ use of community

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Trojan Unicorn? Or governing ‘at a distance’ Top-down meets bottom-up CCF & TTN So, what does ‘community’ do, within

TTN?

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Local ‘grassroots initiative’ ‘Community’ elided with: local, small

scale, neighbourhood, ‘good life’, etc.

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Local/ Scale Carbon Conversations

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Practical Action, Effectiveness

SOSO Motivational Interviewing In-depth & small scale, but crucially

effective and practical

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Zuhanden “This understanding does not need to be

sought, let alone laboriously built or fought for: that understanding is there, ready-made and ready to use - so that we understand each other without words and never need to ask, apprehensively, ‘what do you mean?’ The kind of understanding on which community rests precedes all agreements and disagreements. Such understanding is not a finishing line, but the starting point of all togetherness.”

~Zygmunt Bauman

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Conclusion Community by no means universally

positive Multiple placeholder Possibly enabling collective practical

action Verb and noun