Flexible Institutionalisation in Auroville: A Prefigurative Alternative to Development

Suryamayi Clarence-Smith*, Lara Monticelli

*Corresponding author for this work

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    Abstract

    Scholars interested in mechanisms of transformative change are increasingly looking at ‘real utopias’, emancipatory enactments within the mainstream that prefigure its transcendence: eco-villages and intentional communities, cooperatives, Time Banks, urban gardens, co-housing associations. Academic and activist views on these initiatives are divergent. While some argue that they are seeding the transcendence of the current dominant socio-economic and political system, others dismiss them as niches unable to socially reproduce themselves, let alone disrupt and present viable alternatives to a hegemonic mainstream. To better equip ourselves to understand their transformative potential and potentially move beyond this stalemate, in this article we examine how one of the most enduring and successful prefigurative experiments is organised and sustained. Our case study is the international township Auroville, in India, the largest intentional community in the world and one of the longest-standing. It presents a unique opportunity to examine how an alternative to development is maintained and developed within and in relationship with a dominant system, and whether prefigurative experiments can become ‘institutionalised’ while retaining a prefigurative character.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalSustainability Science
    Volume17
    Issue number4
    Pages (from-to)1171-1182
    Number of pages12
    ISSN1862-4065
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Jul 2022

    Bibliographical note

    This research was conducted under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship scheme funded by the European Union (Grant number 798866, Project ‘EcoLabSS – Ecovillages as Laboratories of Sustainability and Social Change). Fellow: Lara Monticelli. Host Institution: Copenhagen Business School.

    Keywords

    • Prefiguration
    • Alternatives to development
    • Flexible institutionalisation
    • Autoville
    • Intentional community
    • Cooperative economy

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