Prefiguring the counter-hegemony of open cooperativism: The case of Open Food Network

Abstract

Drawing on Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe's discourse theory of hegemony, the paper introduces a chain of equivalence that articulates discourses such as “commons-based peer production”, “partner state” and “ethical market entities” around the counter-hegemony of open cooperativism vis-à-vis the current hegemony of neoliberalism. The paper sets out to empirically test its theoretical premises by reviewing the Open Food Network as an illustrative case-study of open cooperativism. The Open Food Network deploys the digital commons to launch short food supply chains and bring about systemic change in agriculture. Τhe paper suggests that for the Open Food Network to contribute to systemic change in agriculture and beyond it may create cross-sectoral synergies across the economy, civil society and politics to help articulate a chain of equivalence linking up ethical market entities, the commons and a partner state around the model of open cooperativism.