Synonyms
Co-sufficiency; Developmentalism; Do-it-yourself; Domestic labor; Feminist political economy; Gestation; Good life; Home economics; Homesteading; Hunter-gatherers; Infant feeding; Neighborly relations; Peasant farming; Reproduction of life; Self-sufficiency; Social struggle; Subsistence economy; Urban agriculture
Introduction
Subsistence orientation is a term to describe the practice of centering economic activities around the production of subsistence, the material and immaterial conditions of human life. Food, as a basic necessity of human survival, as well as a fundamental element of identity and culture, is an essential part of subsistence. Although often associated with poverty, the production of subsistence makes up the foundation of any economy and culture, yet it is differently organized depending on the dominant relations of production (Veronika Bennholdt-Thomsen and Mies 1999).
Mother-Child Relationships
Human life starts within a pure subsistence economy. A mother...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Baier, A., Bennholdt-Thomsen, V., & Holzer, B. (2005). Ohne Menschen keine Wirtschaft: oder: wie gesellschaftlicher Reichtum entsteht; Berichte aus einer ländlichen Region in Ostwestfalen. (German: No economy without people: or: how social wealth is created; reports from a rural region in Eastern Westphalia). Munich: oekom.
Bennholdt-Thomsen, V., & Mies, M. (1999). The subsistence perspective. Beyond the globalized economy. New York: Zed Books.
ETC GROUP. (2009). Who will feed us? Questions for the food and climate crisis. ETC Group Communiqué, 102, 1–34.
Federici, S. (2004). Caliban and the witch. New York: Autonomedia.
Illich, I. (1982). Vom Recht auf Gemeinheit (German: On the right to community). Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt.
Kimmerer, R. W. (2013). Braiding sweetgrass. Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions.
Lowder, S. K., Skoet, J., & Raney, T. (2016). The number, size, and distribution of farms, smallholder farms, and family farms worldwide. World Development, 87, 16–29.
Luxemburg, R. (1968). The accumulation of capital. New York: Modern Reader paperbacks.
Marx, K. (1977). Capital. Critique of Political Economy (trans: Fowkes, B.) (Vol. 1–2). New York: Vintage.
McMichael, P. (2011). Development and social change: A global perspective: A global perspective. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
Rostow, W. W. (1960). The stages of economic growth, a non-communist manifesto. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sahlins, M. (1972). Stone age economics. Chicago: Aldine-Atherton.
Scott, J. C. (1976). The moral economy of the peasant: Rebellion and subsistence in southeast Asia. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Tönnies, F., & Harris, J. (2001). Community and civil society (Vol. 266). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Van der Ploeg, J. D. (2008). The new peasantries. Struggles for autonomy and sustainability in an era of empire and globalization. London: Earthscan.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature B.V.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Strube, J. (2019). Subsistence Orientation and Food. In: Kaplan, D.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1179-9_599
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1179-9_599
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-024-1178-2
Online ISBN: 978-94-024-1179-9
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities