Another Life is Possible

Manuel Castells, my mentor, writes a weekly column for La Vanguardia, one of Barcelona’s daily papers.  He is the person who brought Alec and me here to Barcelona and, although we had no plans to do direct work together during my time here, I have become involved in one of his projects, and my new line of work is connected as well.  Yesterday, he wrote about the project I joined in his weekly column.  To read it—in Spanish—click on the “weekly column” link.

The project began with a documentary that was finished before I arrived.  We then conducted a large survey—which is what the column covers, and are currently doing a series of focus groups.

In this work, we are examining the extent to which people in Catalunya engage in what we might call “alternative economic practices”—cooperatives, bartering, ethical banks, etc.  What we are finding is that many, many people engage in these practices, and that the numbers are growing.  Our hypothesis is that at least a part of this growth can be explained as an adaptation to the economic crisis. When we talk to people who are doing these things, they tell us—over and over again—that they do so because they value quality of life over money.  59% of survey respondents indicated that they would prefer to work less in order to have more free time, during which they would spend it with family, or do work that they loved.

More than half have become disillusioned with capitalist values, but 78%--and 85% of people between the ages of 25 and 34—believe the world can change for the better.  More than two-thirds believe they can contribute directly to that change.

Perhaps the finacial and economic crisis, then, has created an opportunity for these alternative practices--which have existed for a long time but have historically been seen as fringe ways of living—to grow and to spread beyond a small group of modern-day hippies.  I’ll keep you posted on what we find and, as always, I’d love to know what you think.