The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance – Robin Wall Kimmerer
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The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance – Robin Wall Kimmerer
The example of how we already participate in the gift economy is given with the service berry:
Emergence Magazine • The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance – Robin Wall Kimmerer
Conceiving of something as a gift changes your relationship to it in a profound way, even though the physical makeup of the “thing” has not changed. A wooly knit hat that you purchase at the store will keep you warm regardless of its origin, but if it was hand knit by your favorite auntie, then you are in relationship to that “thing” in a very diff
... See moreRobin Wall Kimmerer • The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance – Robin Wall Kimmerer
Conceiving of something as a gift changes your relationship to it in a profound way, even though the physical makeup of the “thing” has not changed. A woolly knit hat that you purchase at the store will keep you warm regardless of its origin, but if it was hand knit by your favorite auntie, then you are in relationship to that “thing” in a very dif... See more
Robin Wall Kimmerer • The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance – Robin Wall Kimmerer
Gift Economies
Abundance This abundance of berries feels like a pure gift from the land. I have not earned, paid for, nor labored for them. There is no mathematics of worthiness that reckons I deserve them in any way.
Emergence Magazine • The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance – Robin Wall Kimmerer
Core Thesis Scarcity is the main principle of traditional "Economics" and the mindset that follows is based on commodification of goods and services. However, emerging theories of ecological economics look to integrate earth's natural systems and human value into the definition.
Emergence Magazine • The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance – Robin Wall Kimmerer
To name the world as gift is to feel one’s membership in the web of reciprocity. It makes you happy—and it makes you accountable.
Emergence Magazine • The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance – Robin Wall Kimmerer
The currency in a gift economy is relationship, which is expressed as gratitude, as interdependence and the ongoing cycles of reciprocity. Anthropological ideas mentioned in the article point towards this as being a way of sustaining life in various communities.
Emergence Magazine • The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance – Robin Wall Kimmerer
The Response Gratitude and reciprocity are the currency of a gift economy, and they have the remarkable property of multiplying with every exchange, their energy concentrating as they pass from hand to hand, a truly renewable resource.
Emergence Magazine • The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance – Robin Wall Kimmerer
Intentional communities of mutual self-reliance and reciprocity are the wave of the future, and their currency is sharing. The move toward a local food economy is not just about freshness and food miles and carbon footprints and soil organic matter. It is all of those things, but it’s also about the deeply human desire for connection, to be in reci
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An Economy of Abundance: