AndersUtrecht Research
One of the ways in which Anders Utrecht seeks to bridge gaps between theory and lived experience is by creating and facilitating research collaboration opportunities. Network members can request specific practice oriented research and vice versa researchers and students at Utrecht University can easily get in contact with the organizations that might have relevant input for their research. In this way we actively stimulate the coproduction of knowledge and build platform for the sharing of ideas, resources and contact.
As result of this ambition and service the following theses have been published in recent years:
Emerging worker cooperatives facing institutional and economic complexities in Amsterdam’s Community Wealth Building strategy
By Vera Breugem (2024), Anders Utrecht Partner: Commons Network
Summary
This research explores the challenges and opportunities for worker cooperatives within capitalist structures, with a focus on their role in Community Wealth Building (CWB). Worker cooperatives have often been criticized for their inability to compete with traditional capitalist firms, leading to the “degeneration thesis,” which suggests that cooperatives either fail or transform into capitalist-like entities over time. However, critiques of this thesis argue that it stems from a capitalist-centric perspective, overlooking the potential for reimagining economic structures through a diverse economies approach. While worker cooperatives can serve as an alternative to capitalism, they face challenges such as isolation, limited cooperation among cooperatives, and difficulties in accessing credit and resources. Institutional structures can mitigate these challenges through create supportive environments. In Amsterdam, the recent adoption of CWB as part of the Fearless Cities movement marks a significant step towards creating a more equitable and sustainable urban economy. The city’s 20-year commitment to CWB aims to develop resilient neighborhoods through collaboration between the municipality, civil society, and local residents. This strategy includes the establishment of worker cooperatives and the provision of business services to support their development. This explorative research search to find institutional and economic structures that impact the development of citizen-led emerging worker cooperatives. Through participant observation within the supportive network of cooperatives and conducting interviews with community members, municipal members and a cooperative adviser, this research finds that the success of CWB in Amsterdam might depend on community engagement, network collaboration, and properly organised supportive organisations. This study contributes to the knowledge of diverse economies by exploring how worker cooperatives can be instrumental in transforming economic and institutional relations through their relations with municipal and advisory members within the community. Instead of viewing worker cooperatives primary for creating democratic subjects, the theory of change for CWB, as formulated by Hanna and Kelly (2021), advocates for integrating cooperative efforts within a broader political strategy, combining bottom-up and top-down approaches, ultimately requiring an adaptability in the further progress of worker cooperatives in Amsterdam.
Social Impact Through Inclusion: The Case of De Voorkamer
By Valentina Fiorini (2023), Anders Utrecht Partner: De Voorkamer
Summary
This study attempts to understand the relationship between De Voorkamer (a community organisation in Utrecht, the Netherlands) and its community and how social impact is created through this interaction. This is done through ethnographic research paired with interviews conducted with organisational members, volunteers and participants of De Voorkamer’s events. In addition, visuals are used throughout to better depict the processes at play. The paper’s main findings suggest that the impact created through the relationship between De Voorkamer and its community is managed through a sense of inclusion and belonging within the space. Power dynamics play a role in this relationship since it determines the outcome of the inclusion and integration processes. De Voorkamer’s cocreation initiative was also seen as an empowering tool that creates a stronger bond with the organisation and a stronger sense of belonging. Social capital is also highlighted as a crucial ingredient for social impact, with the paper delving into how social capital is created through the inclusion process. Lastly, mental health benefits were a recurring theme within the paper as a spillover effect of the inclusion process. The paper goes into ways De Voorkamer can improve its social impact creation. Specifically by increasing the accessibility of information about events and programs and providing more formal education opportunities. De Voorkamer could also benefit from more intentional impact planning and evaluation to ensure its programs and activities meet the community’s needs. Overall, this study highlights the importance of community-led spaces like De Voorkamer for fostering inclusion and belonging among immigrants and refugees and strengthening ties within communities. De Voorkamer acts as a bridge between marginalised, disadvantaged groups and their social needs, which prevents them from the risk of social exclusion and the adverse outcomes which are associated with it. The study provides insights into how community-led spaces can empower marginalised communities and contribute to social and economic opportunities. Curious? Read the full research here.
A Collective Effort to find Durable Solutions for Undocumented People: An ethnographic case-study of the way local stakeholders engage in collaborative governance for the public service delivery to undocumented people in Utrecht
By Iva Hoefnagel (2023), Anders Utrecht Partner: Villa Vrede
Summary
As a response to exclusionary assembly policies and lack of support by the national government, local stakeholders started organising and collaborating for the provision of services to undocumented people locally. This thesis analyses the way local stakeholders engage in collaborative governance for the public service delivery to undocumented people in Utrecht. Through an in-depth study of the experiences of individuals actively involved in the municipality Utrecht and local civil society organisations, it provides insight into the dynamics of ollaborative governance at the local level. The research uses the model of collaborative governance of Ansell and Gash (2008) to analyse the different factors that influence the degree of collaboration between the local stakeholders: starting conditions, facilitative leadership, institutional design and collaborative process. In doing so, it also uses the framework of multi-levelness to analyse the relations between the local collaborative network and the recently implemented national pilot concerning undocumented people: the LVV (Landelijke Vreemdelingenvoorzieningen, National Immigration Facilities). Curious? Read the full research here.
A construction of change, exploring the role of art in moving towards the symbiocene: the case of Utrecht Natuurlijk
By Thomas van Montfoort (2023), Anders Utrecht Partner: Utrecht Natuurlijk
Summary
This research was set out to answer the following research question: “How does art raises awareness on the topic of ‘Rights of Nature’ aiding the transformation from the Anthropocene to the Symbiocene?”. It is a qualitative research that took the ‘natuurvrijplaatsen’ placed on sights of Utrecht Natuurlijk as a case study. By interviewing observers of the artwork and observing the artwork for multiple days data was gathered. The findings showed that art can be a good stimulus to make people think about the human-nature relationship. Art can be a conversation starter making people rethink their beliefs and attitudes towards nature. It did not necessarily taught people about the concept of Rights of Nature, but it did make people implicitly question the place of nature in society and what kind of rights nature actually have. By making people think about the human-nature relationship the artwork contributed to aiding the transformation towards the Symbiocene. To really change the human-nature relationship art was not enough, but it did create consciousness and awareness about environmental topics.
The politics of money, growth-dependency and monetary transformation-The case of the Makkie time-bank in Amsterdam-Oost
By Diane Golenvaux (2023), Anders Utrecht Partner: Commons Network
Summary
Global financialization has led the politics of money and debt to be increasingly contested. Debt-based monetary creation, accumulation and artificial scarcity engrain competition, exploitation and growth dependency in capitalist economies. Through the proliferation of complementary currencies, communities show that there are ways to reclaim and reorganize monetary systems to sustain their livelihoods beyond capitalist market relations. This research presents a critical framework to analyze monetary logics in capitalist economies as well as in community currency networks. Community currencies are based on the principle of cooperation, monetary abundance and plurality and hence have the potential to diversify and democratize the economy. Time-banks foster greater social capital, care, solidarity and collaboration within communities. They have a different value system and facilitate economic exchanges that would not take place otherwise. The case of the Makkie, a time-bank from Amsterdam-Oost, is analyzed through the lens of institutional logics: the conflicting relationship to the surrounding political-economic environment, the values, meanings and rules of the network, as well as to socio-economic practices it enables. Since 2012, the expansion of the network and progressive co-optation by the local government has infused the gift-economy network organized around use-value and solidarity with welfare rules and capitalist practices. The difficulty of the Makkie network to sustain itself without the municipality funding, and to stay embedded in the community in spite of scaling-up represent important challenges for community currencies. Curious? Read the full research here.
The political implications of the fluidity of meanings: The case of (forthcoming) Unlearning Center in “Casco Art Institute”
By Amaia Yoller Masedo (2023), Anders Utrecht Partner: CASCO
Summary
Critical cultural organisations play a key role in transforming the realities that surround them by pushing towards more just paradigms and dynamics. The discourse of these institutions is relevant as it shapes their practice and their message. This qualitative study takes “Casco Art Institute: Working for the Commons” as a case study to analyse the language that surrounds their forthcoming Unlearning Center. For conducting the critical ethnographic discourse analysis, data was collected through interviews and participant-observation. Five main topics were discussed: “meaning of commons”, “meaning of unlearning”, “meaning of ecosystem”, “direction of Unlearning Center” and “governance, power and institutional positioning”. The findings reveal the presence of floating signifiers and the dominant meanings attached to these words, as well as they highlight the intentions behind the project and the complexities of the organisation. These insights have organisational and political implications in terms of their positioning as a critical institution that are worth considering and reflecting upon.
Competing Logics from the CSO Perspective in a Partnership on Undocumented Migration with the State: A Case Study of Villa Vrede
By Roxane Stormer (2023), Anders Utrecht Partner: Villa Vrede
Summary
The Dutch state, municipalities, and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) collaborate in a Cross-Sector Social Partnership (CSSP) to find long-lasting solutions to the problem of undocumented people in the Netherlands. Though they all wish for a sustainable solution, their goals, norms, and values differ, potentially affecting the collaboration. While literature in organizational studies lacks research on the perspective of CSOs in collaboration with the state in CSSPs, this research bridges that gap through the lens of institutional logics. It aims to understand how CSO members perceive such a partnership, if and where they perceive tension through competing logics, and which strategies they use to maneuver through them to sustain their activities to keep raising the flag for social justice. The case study contained ethnographic methodologies, such as participant observations and conducted interviews, and took place at Villa Vrede (VV), a CSO in this national collaboration in the Netherlands on undocumented migration. Data analysis occurred through thematic analysis. The findings show how dominantly state logics are perceived by CSO members and that strategies are chosen based on their perceived hierarchical position within the CSSP, acting with resourcefulness within the margins of their place of power in the partnership. For example, members use the strategy of defiance when this isn’t expected from the less powerful actor in the partnership. In line with the literature, members also use the strategy of avoidance, among other strategies. This research contributes to the literature by showing that impact and change can happen in the margins by collaborating with and simultaneously avoiding the powerful partner(s). It shows how the state needs the operational services of CSOs, creating space for CSO members to negotiate, maneuver, and potentially push dominant and long-existing institutions back to open space for re-evaluation with a social justice perspective, thereby changing the CSSP landscape. In addition, it shows that CSO practices like VV can continue to raise awareness on social justice and might shift the collaboration in the long term in their favor by understanding and mapping out where their services are vital for more powerful partners in the CSSP. It can also help create a strategy and a more powerful position to negotiate the partnership’s terms, conditions, and underlying values. This can encourage CSO members to – instead of trying to change the power imbalance – use strategies creatively by looking for alternative ways of exercising influence and creating change in CSSPs within their hierarchy. Curious? Read the full research here.
‘Welkom voor iedereen!? Een verkennend onderzoek naar de betekenisgeving van diversiteit bij zelfbeheerinitiatieven en de invloed van dominante discoursen op deze betekenisgeving’
By Winnie Ruizendaal (2021), Anders Utrecht Partner: Dwarsverband
Summary
Inclusie en uitsluiting zijn belangrijke thema’s voor zelfbeheerinitiatieven (Movisie, 2018). Aan diversiteit ontbreekt het vaak omdat de zelfbeheerinitiatieven ooit zijn opgericht door een homogene groep mensen. Daarnaast hebben zelfbeheerinitiatieven in Utrecht een stoffig imago (Labyrinth, 2020). In het onderzoek van Labyrinth (2020) wordt advies gegeven aan zelfbeheerinitiatieven over het verhogen van bekendheid, interesse en het welkom zijn voor iedereen. De vereniging Dwarsverband is een Utrechtse vereniging voor bewonersinitiatieven in zelfbeheer. Dwarsverband wil met het projectplan ‘cultuur naar mensen brengen’, onder andere meer diversiteit bij de zelfbeheerinitiatieven verkrijgen. Het in kaart brengen van hoe zelfbeheerinitiatieven betekenis geven aan diversiteit is noodzakelijk om te kijken hoe de organisaties zelf aankijken tegen dit complexe begrip. Om allereerst Dwarsverband te helpen met het verder invulling geven aan het projectplan. Maar ook om meer inzicht te verkrijgen in hoe er in de vrijwilligerssector betekenis wordt gegeven aan diversiteit en door welke discoursen deze sector beïnvloed wordt. Het doel van het onderzoek is het in kaart brengen hoe zelfbeheerinitiatieven betekenis geven aan diversiteit en welke discoursen een rol spelen in deze betekenisgeving. Hiervoor is de volgende onderzoeksvraag opgesteld: Welke betekenissen geven de leden van Dwarsverband uit de ‘werkgroep cultuur’ aan diversiteit en wat is de invloed hiervan op het handelen van de leden in de organisatie? Om antwoord te geven op de onderzoeksvraag is een kwalitatief onderzoek uitgevoerd. Vier zelfbeheerinitiatieven die lid zijn van Dwarsverband hebben meegewerkt aan het onderzoek. Er zijn veertien interviews afgenomen, aangevuld met verschillende observaties. Vervolgens is er een kritische discoursanalyse uitgevoerd om te kijken hoe zelfbeheerinitiatieven betekenis geven aan diversiteit. Discours werd in deze analyse gezien als een bepaalde manier om de wereld te zien. De focus ligt hierbij op hoe er wordt gesproken over diversiteit, wat de onderzochten zien als vanzelfsprekend en hoe deze vanzelfsprekendheden worden ondersteund of juist worden weerlegd. Uit de data-analyse blijkt dat de onderzochten vijf verschillende discoursen gebruiken om binnen zelfbeheerinitiatieven betekenis te geven aan diversiteit: ‘het representatiediscours’, ‘het inclusiviteitsdiscours’, het neoliberale discours’, ‘zelfbeheerinitiatieven zijn voor ouderen en kwetsbaren’ en ‘diversiteit als nadeel’. Het onderzoek laat zien dat binnen zelfbeheerinitiatieven verschillenden discoursen de betekenis van diversiteit construeren en daarmee het handelen van de leden in de organisaties beïnvloeden. Met het onderzoek heb ik geprobeerd te laten zien waarom bepaalde definities van diversiteit en bepaalde heersende normen rondom dit onderwerp problematisch kunnen zijn. Hiermee hoop ik een bewustzijn te creëren bij zelfbeheerinitiatieven, alsook andere vrijwilligersorganisaties. Het onderzoek is daarmee een verkenning van de belangrijkste discoursen die aanwezig kunnen zijn. Ik raad aan om in vervolgonderzoek naar diversiteit de context mee te nemen in het conceptualiseren van het complexe begrip. Daarnaast is vervolgonderzoek naar zelfbeheerinitiatieven van belang, zodat er gekeken kan worden hoe deze manier van organiseren het beste gerealiseerd kan worden. Curious? Read the full research here.
