(Un)usual Business ~ a project by Casco (2013—present)

(Un)usual Business is a long-term research project by Casco that explores so-called "community economies", a term coined by feminist economic geographers Katherine Gibson and Julie Graham. The core idea is that the economy is much broader and more diverse than what we normally think as economy takes place in everyday exchanges and relations. These types of unrecognized economies propel values and agencies that are very different from the capitalist spirit of profit making and financial accumulation, looking instead to wellbeing, friendship, and belonging or non-belonging. While making visible and facilitating these non-capitalist economic forms, it is here we see that contemporary art can play a vital role.

In fall 2013, the interdisciplinary (Un)usual Business research group produced an online reader (find it here) with newly written essays and other texts. From September 2014 onward, a reinvigorated research team will conduct field research in and around Utrecht, talking and working with people who run self-organized child care centers, community gardens, food cooperatives, and alternative educational models. We aim to learn from these practices, align with them and bring them together, in order to imagine as well as enact non-capitalist futures.