Cases
Resilience and Malleability of Mobility, Housing, and Food
In REMASS, six empirically grounded case studies explore the malleability of provisioning systems in the context of disruptions and in relation to human wellbeing. Therein, we focus on how actors, institutions, and power relations shape and are shaped by material stocks and flows.
The case studies on mobility, housing, and food draw on in-depth qualitative methods in combination with global-scale quantitative analysis. The case studies are selected specifically to capture multiple forms of provisioning that vary in terms of regulation, integration into the national economy, perceived formality, coverage in (global) databases, etc.
This selection is paramount to the analysis of questions of access to mobility, housing, and food for different segments of the population. For this reason, we also address contexts in the Global South, East, and North as well as their interrelation.
Our aim is to enable comparative analyses of the sustainability and malleability of provisioning systems and the wellbeing they lead to across different settings and taking power relations and distributive justice into account. This provides the foundation for analyzing how housing, food, and mobility must and can be transformed, especially in the face of increased disruptions.
Provisioning Systems
'Provisioning systems' are the interconnected networks and processes that societies rely on to meet basic human needs like food, housing, and mobility.
We aim to understand the diversity of these essential systems and how they relate to resource supply chains and disruptions therein. We seek to identify how different forms of provisioning also differ in terms of their resilience and malleability.
Provisioning systems are directly and/or indirectly affected by disruptions in global supply chains, and we aim to clarify the paths of these disruptions through the systems. At the same time, we are particularly interested in forms of provisioning that are intentionally or unintentionally disruptive, in a manner that is conducive to greater wellbeing and sustainability, as well as long-term resilience to (further) disruptions.
This line of inquiry allows us to bring more nuance to our understanding of malleability, that is how and to what extent social metabolism can be transformed to promote sustainable wellbeing for all.
Mobility
Our mobility case studies consider how mobility is provided both within systems dominated by politically and economically dominant actors (e.g., electric vehicles, high-speed railways connections) and outside of or at the margins of the formal economy (through various forms such as civil initiatives and paratransit). We consider these developments in relation to global supply chains (e.g., metals for battery production, fuels) and as affected by disruptions therein (e.g., geopolitical shifts, technological competition, wars and conflicts). Specifically, we are interested in the relationship between processes and actors in the Global South and Global North in shaping and co-constituting mobility provisioning systems, the factors that perpetuate existing mobility configurations and the entry points to transform (unsustainable) existing forms of provisioning. As such, we ask which transformations in material flows and power structures are required for global, regional, and local mobility provisioning systems that are safe, accessible, sustainable, and equitable.
Housing
Housing as a provisioning system will be explored through case studies focusing on how and in what forms shelter is provided in several locations spanning the Global North and South. This consists of both the material commodities dominant and emerging in housing provision (e.g., concrete and timber), and the forms of housing provided to meet shelter needs (e.g., new construction/renovation, single homes/apartments, etc.). The research will focus on how sustainable different provisioning practices are and how resilient they are to disruptions. This investigation will be extended to propose transformations to the housing provisioning sector that are sustainable, just, and resilient to external shocks and disruptions, to enable adequate shelter for all within planetary boundaries.
Food
Nutrition as a provisioning system will focus on which forms of food (self) provisioning and resources are prevalent in providing nutritious food for households. This case aims to explore both the informal, non-monetary and household components of food provisioning systems as well as their interrelation with the monetary and formal forms and sources of food. The three case studies will be Community Supported Agriculture projects in Brandenburg, Germany (Global North), subsistence farming at dacha allotment gardens in Eastern Estonia (Global East) as well as urban agriculture in South Africa. As such, these three qualitative case studies aim to capture the whole diversity of complex and intertwined food provisioning systems (relations, networks, sources etc.) with an explicit focus on invisible/informal/overlooked/unaccounted food provisioning. Lastly, it also foregrounds such forms of food provisioning as sustainable and resilient forms of subsistence and food sovereignty, ensuring and shaping one’s wellbeing and reproduction – also in uncertain times and crises.
