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Meaningful Action: Recomposing Labor and Value with Practices and Imaginaries on the zad of Notre-Dame-des-Landes

Gras, Balthazar LU (2024) SANK03 20241
Social Anthropology
Abstract
This paper explores how the modern categories of labor and value are questioned by practices and ideas on the autonomous zad of Notre-Dame-Des-Landes, France. In a world where the global economy is defined by the division of time between labor and leisure, it is necessary to question these foundations by asking what this dichotomy implies. With data from eight weeks of ethnographic fieldwork observing how utilitarian notions of value are questioned on the zad, this research aims to disclose how, in the place of contemporary hierarchical labor relations, horizontal organization of production and autonomous labor practices afford collective and individual freedom to pursue meaningful ends and actions that are not necessarily ‘productive’. My... (More)
This paper explores how the modern categories of labor and value are questioned by practices and ideas on the autonomous zad of Notre-Dame-Des-Landes, France. In a world where the global economy is defined by the division of time between labor and leisure, it is necessary to question these foundations by asking what this dichotomy implies. With data from eight weeks of ethnographic fieldwork observing how utilitarian notions of value are questioned on the zad, this research aims to disclose how, in the place of contemporary hierarchical labor relations, horizontal organization of production and autonomous labor practices afford collective and individual freedom to pursue meaningful ends and actions that are not necessarily ‘productive’. My argument is grounded in an action-based theory of value to propose that the intimate relationship between imaginaries and practices form the basis for understanding how the intersection of value and labor can help us reimagine conventional assumptions about the contemporary economy for the sake of meaningful emancipation. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Gras, Balthazar LU
supervisor
organization
course
SANK03 20241
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
social anthropology, zad, value, labor, imaginary, action
language
English
id
9156707
date added to LUP
2024-06-03 10:39:28
date last changed
2024-06-03 10:39:28
@misc{9156707,
  abstract     = {{This paper explores how the modern categories of labor and value are questioned by practices and ideas on the autonomous zad of Notre-Dame-Des-Landes, France. In a world where the global economy is defined by the division of time between labor and leisure, it is necessary to question these foundations by asking what this dichotomy implies. With data from eight weeks of ethnographic fieldwork observing how utilitarian notions of value are questioned on the zad, this research aims to disclose how, in the place of contemporary hierarchical labor relations, horizontal organization of production and autonomous labor practices afford collective and individual freedom to pursue meaningful ends and actions that are not necessarily ‘productive’. My argument is grounded in an action-based theory of value to propose that the intimate relationship between imaginaries and practices form the basis for understanding how the intersection of value and labor can help us reimagine conventional assumptions about the contemporary economy for the sake of meaningful emancipation.}},
  author       = {{Gras, Balthazar}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Meaningful Action: Recomposing Labor and Value with Practices and Imaginaries on the zad of Notre-Dame-des-Landes}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}