Redundancy and Resilience: Alternative economies of urban framing in the Detroit Regional Food System

底特律城市农业系统的一个显著特点是其固有的低效率。城市中的大多数农场是高劳动力，低产量和缺乏后勤协调。然而，农民们认为正是这些特征引导他们生产出与众不同的经济产品。该项目探讨城市农业作为一种替代经济，产生一系列积极的经济、社会和政治成果，如可持续性、社区粮食安全和有弹性的粮食系统。该项目特别感兴趣的是产生这种盈余的组织机制（经济组织的独特形式）。一个例子是农民声称低效率的生产会加强（而不是破坏）区域粮食安全。根据生态恢复力的文献，农民们认为，虽然高效的系统可以降低成本，但它们也是脆弱的：当一个部分失灵时，整个系统就会崩溃。他们认为，冗余的系统会导致失败。当一个部件崩溃时，其他部件（做类似或相同的工作）会继续运行。从这个意义上说，人们可以认为冗余和低效构成了一种独特的经济组织模式，“生产”出独特的经济产出（一种有益的粮食系统）。本项目关注底特律城市农业的替代经济，包括社区粮食安全、城市转型、粮食公正和区域弹性等项目。该学生将在阿伯里斯特威斯大学DGES工作，并将在底特律进行9个月的实地考察，直接与当地的城市农业组织合作，并得到密歇根大学的额外支持。该项目与DGES工作人员的许多兴趣和主题交叉，包括文化地理学，城市地理学，社区和区域粮食安全，创意地理学，文化和政治理论以及有关可持续性，城市转型和恢复力的问题。

One distinctive aspect of the urban farming system in Detroit is itsinherent inefficiency. Most farms in the city are high labour, lowyield and lacking in logistical coordination. Yet, farmers argue thatit is precisely these characteristics that lead them to produce theirdistinctive economic outputs. This project explores urban farmingas an alternative economy that yields a range of positiveeconomic, social and political outcomes, such as sustainability,community food security and a resilient food system. The projectis particularly interested in the organisational mechanisms (thedistinctive forms of economic organisation) that produce suchsurpluses. One example is the claim by farmers that inefficientproduction enhances (rather than undermines) regional foodsecurity. Drawing upon the literature on ecological resilience,farmers argue that while efficient systems reduce costs, they arefragile: when one piece fails the system as a whole can collapse.Redundant systems, they argue, anticipate failure. When onepiece crashes, others (doing similar or the same work) keep thesystem going. In this sense, one could argue that redundancy andinefficiency constitute a distinctive mode of economicorganisation 'producing' a unique economic output (a resilientfood system).This project focuses on the alternativeeconomies of urban farming in Detroit including projects oncommunity food security, urban transformation, food justice andregional resilience. The student will be based in DGES at AberystwythUniversity and will have 9 months of fieldwork in Detroit workingdirectly with local urban farming organisations with added supportfrom the University of Michigan. The project intersects with anumber interests and themes among staff in DGES includingcultural geography, urban geography, community and regionalfood security, creative geographies, cultural and political theoryand questions about sustainability, urban transformation andresilience.