Alternatives for feeding Pointe-Saint-Charles. Contributions of a sociology of knowledge to the ethnographic study of non-profit food initiatives
This article summarizes a doctoral dissertation in sociology exploring the notion of economic alternatives to capitalism. Using a sociology of knowledge approach, the possibility of economically alternative activities is considered on the basis of the knowledge that constitutes social belonging and its embeddedness in particular socio-economic configurations that are to be examined empirically. For this purpose, an ethnographic survey was conducted among community and non-profit organizations in a working-class district of Montreal. Analysis of the complex interplay between social phenomena at different scales ultimately helps explain the socially differentiated constitution of alternative food organizations in the area, as well as the opportunities and limitations they face in terms of future evolution.