For anyone who is interested in trying to read the whole thesis it can be downloaded from here:

http://scr.bi/j9c0fS

Also, I am doing a free talk in Totnes on Monday 25th July at 8pm at St John’s Church. This will mainly focus on how Totnes became ‘alternative’. If you are local and interested please come along.

I am also planning to revamp this site at some point and add in some of the other bits that I never got round to putting up. So watch this space…

Its been a while since I blogged on here because I have been rewriting some of my data chapters to link up the theory with the data. The chapter on ‘postcapitalist’ possibility now discusses this particularly in relation to the organic food section. This blog posting outline some of the revised arguments that the chapter makes.

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A key purpose of the PhD is about whether it is possible to do more ‘radical’ economic things around Totnes. I chose to focus on ‘institutions’ rather than the particular ‘lifestyles’ that people may have constructed. Thus I do not claim that my research fully reflects the ‘alternative’ economics of the area, or all of the perhaps sometimes ‘hidden’ economic activity. Some of the main institutions that have emerged are detailed in the table below.

Table of institutions

This chapter suggests that there has been a lot of experimentation but that the radical stuff does not seem to be any more economically viable because it is around Totnes. Viability is defined in the sense of contributing to people’s livelihoods. Furthermore, another of my main arguments is that many of these institutions do not ‘cohere’. The chapter then focuses on three different aspects of the local organic ‘marketscape’ to explore these arguments in more depth. The marketscape reflects the configuration of market opportunities and production. The chapter explores 3 areas of this marketscape in more details:

1) The local organic retail market

The retail market is traced back to the 60s and Herb of Grace, Cranks, Sacks etc in the 1970s. The fact that there are 5 specialised independent retailers is very unusual. The survival of independent retail has partly been down to (i) the conservation area which has prevented redevelopment of the town (ii) the lack of suitable sites for supermarkets; (iii) perhaps the sewerage embargo during the 1970s. This unusual local retail market is supported by local enclave that extends across South Devon and consists of a number of overlapping ‘sub-countercultures’ (e.g. Steiner, Alternative Health, Green etc). However in recent years competition has increased both between specialists and from other sources (e.g. supermarkets, Happy Apple, other farm-shops). This has put economic pressure on the retailers and required them to develop various strategies to survive.

2) Riverford Organic Vegetables

Economically Riverford is one of the success stories of the local organic economy, being one of the areas largest employers. The local ‘countercultural’ community did provide some inspiration for Riverford in its early years, including influencing its ethics.  Riverford has been able to survive by transcending the local market whereas other small local producers had to diversify. However as Riverford has expanded it has become more involved in ‘capitalist’ processes and structures e.g. borrowing to expand. Riverford therefore has strong ethics and has an important economic impact but also exhibits some signs of what is sometimes known as organic ‘conventionalism’.

3) Community Supported Farming

The Totnes area has been a site of some significant organic experimentation.  The Devon Organic Growers co-operative were pioneering ‘Community Supported Agriculture’ in the late 1970s around 10 years before it ‘officially’ came to the UK. There was also an innovative ‘cowshare’ scheme at Upper Sharpham Barton Farm in around 1990 which enabled people to invest in a herd of biodynamic cows. There is also the existing South Devon Community Supported Farming scheme and an active, local biodynamics group. The strong local retail market does provide market access for small producers. However, as noted above it does not seem to make small-scale production any more economic. In general the more radical and small-scale projects are able to survive due to a number of factors not least the moral and practical support of sympathetic local supporters.

Overall the chapter argues that the ‘countercultural’ aspects of the locality do not make radical grassroots institutions any more economically viable. It also suggests that institutional reform and the role of the state are probably more important in creating the right conditions for allowing such ‘alternatives’ to flourish. Also, financial capital is an essential (but often overlooked) factor in building grassroots institutions.

I would be interested in any comments which either agree or disagree with this analysis.

The PhD has a somewhat academic concern with ‘capitalism’ and whether it is possible to do ‘non-capitalist’ things at a grassroots levels. At its widest level, the PhD is seeking to explore the relationship between a countercultural place and postcapitalism. Generally the academic literature seems to point to a relationship between the two: postcapitalism emerges in countercultural places. These two chapter explores some of the issues relating to this debate.

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Chapter 7: Postcapitalist possibility

This chapter looks at some of the different ‘alternative’ (here termed post-capitalist) institutions that have developed within the area. Following on from a set of categories developed within the literature review, it argues that there are three areas where it could be argued that there has been some kind of significant postcapitalist economic activity.

1. A multi-dimensional ‘local’ organic food economy
2. A site of independent retail
3. A site of community economic experimentation

The arguments made under each of these sections are briefly outlined below.

1. A ‘local’ organic food economy

The chapter highlights a number of different facets to the local organic food economy. The first is that it is a site of retail. It is argued that this can directly be related to the milieu and in particular aspects of it such as the interest in Complementary and Alternative medicine. Thus this is a ‘locally embedded’ facet of the food economy. Riverford Organics dominates the production side of organic agriculture. Whilst there is evidence that aspects of the locality were important for the emergence of Riverford, it is argued that it has become successful by transcending the locality. For example, the geographical extensivity of its markets and its use of migrant labour. The area of the organic local food economy is small scale localized Community Supported Farming (CSF) schemes of which there are many examples. I argue that despite the strong local market and conducive cultural environment, most of these fail to provide a living for the participants.  The experiments themselves therefore use a variety of strategies to mitigate the uneconomic nature of their activities. Being based around Totnes does not therefore make these projects any more ‘economic’ and the ‘local’ food economy is perhaps more fragmented that it first appears.

2. The local independent retail sector

The fact that Totnes has been able to retain a retail centre based on independent business is partly down to historic factors. The local poverty of the 19^th Century meant that town centre was not rebuilt during the Victorian era. The assignation of a conservation area in the 1960s then protected the town centre from redevelopment, preserving a retail core of small premises. The uneven topography has also generally prevented the arrival of supermarkets or ‘big box’ stores until the 1990s.

The preservation of small shops in Totnes has seen it evolve into a specialist retail centre, a transition that has occurred roughly in parallel with its rise as a reputed centre of ‘alternative’ cultures. Indeed, there are numerous businesses that are associated with such cultures, including the food organic businesses.  However, interviews with some of the non-food businesses suggest that they are not sustained by the localized milieu but by non-local factors.  Thus Totnes’ is not simply a ‘local’ retail centre but sustained by specialised forms of tourism and consumption. Indeed, several of the businesses rely predominately on non-retail activity to sustain their businesses. Furthermore, the ‘gentrification’ of Totnes has made it increasingly difficult to sustain retail businesses within the town centre.

3. A site of community economic experimentation

The Totnes area has seen a number of community economic experiments take place. These include:

• TILT local loan fund
• Totnes Development Trust
• Housing Co-operatives and other forms of community housing
• Devonlane Credit Union
• Pioneering LETS systems
• The Totnes Pound currency

However in researching and reviewing the above it is argued that none of them have been able to make a significant economic contribution to the area. Therefore whilst the area has proved to be a site of significant experimentation none of the experiments have become economically significant. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the above in relation to ideas of ‘capitalism’ that were discussed earlier in the thesis.

Chapter 8: Space to experiment

The final chapter is the most theoretical and uses different strands of geographic theory to explore a central contradiction that appears to emerge from the research: the factors which make Totnes a good site for experimentation are also responsible for undermining the success of experiments.

It starts by looking at the different ‘spaces’ which have allowed experiments to take place, not just physical spaces but the social spaces created by networks and groups as well as the ‘space’ created in people’s heads and imaginations.

It then argues that there is an important role played by ‘insurgent architects’ or ‘social entrepreneurs’. They play a critical role in driving forward projects and initiatives and mobilizing groups of supporters. Using the example of one such entrepreneur (Andy Langford) it shows how they are able to exploit the space described above.

The chapter then explores some reasons why social and community experiments have not sustained in the area. One source of conflict is cultural. The fact that many of these practices are rooted in specific (counter)cultures can lead to them being rejected, particularly because such cultures are also associated with the impacts of in-migration to the area. Secondly, there is conflict between alternative cultures. Rather than a cohesive alternative culture there is a multiplicity of different ‘alternatives’ that perhaps prevents wider coalitions being built.  Thirdly, the research suggests that ‘ethical’ spaces are also highly conflictive, that once you bring questions of ethics to the forefront of discussion it creates disagreement.

Overall then, spaces where countercultural ideas can emerge may not be places where such ideas can also spread and build wider coalitions of support.

There are two ‘sides’ to the PhD – The first is about how the Totnes area became a site of ‘countercultural’ activity. At the moment I have written two chapters on this, detailed below. Many of the posts that I have put up on this site have actually related to this side of the PhD.

If anybody would like to read the whole of either chapter I would be happy to email them a copy. Similarly, if anyone would like to agree or challenge the arguments I would also be very interested in hearing from them.

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Chapter 5: The Dartington effect

The ‘Dartington experiment’ is the primary reason that Totnes became a countercultural place.  However, it was not necessarily the direct effect of Dartington, but the ‘collision’ of Dartington and the Counterculture of the 1970s that led to the impact on Totnes. Whilst Dartington experimented with some Countercultural practices these experiments were limited and controversial within the organization. One of the key effects of Dartington was to act as a migratory driver for the ‘progressive’ middle classes.  A number of its institutions (Dartington Hall School, the College of Arts) acted in this way. The chapter therefore argues that the desire to be amongst ‘likeminded’ people was a draw to the area (value homophily). However, the research also suggests that familial homophily was also important, with migration occurring because of friends, families and personal connections.

Dartington also supported the circulation of ideas and people, bringing Countercultural ideas to the area and supporting their local circulation. It did this not only through the employment that it provided but also through the conferences and events that it put on. The local courses and literature that it produced also helped ideas to circulate.

The chapter argues that during the 1970s, underpinned by Dartington, a Countercultural milieu grew up around the Totnes and Dartington area. Much of the Countercultural practice emerged from this milieu rather than Dartington itself, although the latter did support some activities, for example through Elmgrants. Furthermore, it argues that both Dartmoor and Torquay were also significant influences on the developling milieu.

Chapter 6: The impact of a Countercultural milieu

This chapter charts the impact of the milieu. It charts the emergence of several significant strands of countercultural practice within the Totnes area:

• Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)
• New Spiritual Movements
• Radical Feminism
• Organic Agriculture
• Environmental Activism and Green politics
• Peace activism
• Hood Faire festivals
• ‘New Age’ Travellers

One argument of this chapter (and the thesis as a whole) is that place images / myths such as ‘new age’ or ‘alternative’ obscure the diversity of countercultural practices that take place.

It goes on to argue that there have been several effects of this milieu that have all had a direct impact on Totnes itself:

1)   The emergence of  ‘place myths’ / ‘place images’ about the town / area which shape both how it is imagined and its actual material development

2)   The production of underground press and other countercultural literature in Totnes

3)   The development of Totnes as an economic ‘centre’ for various ‘alternative’ cultures

4)   Increased visibility of countercultural activity in Totnes

5)   Proliferation of  ‘countercultural’ institutions since the mid 1970s

6)   Ongoing in-migration driven by reputation and homophily

The ‘countercultural’ migration has contributed to a wider process of gentrification that has taken place in Totnes and which has led to the current disparity between house prices and wages.

The publicity generated by the book obviously helped this reputation to spread so that, by the late 1980s and early 1990s there were regular representations of this aspect of the area in the national press.  Whilst such ‘place myths’ are based on some kind of tangible reality they are also obviously simplifications. However, one issue that the thesis explores is the fact that they also have very real impacts on places. I will write more about this at a later date.

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The representation of Totnes as a ‘New Age’ or ‘Alternative’ capital has become a significant and repeated representation of it as a place. It was the publication of Spilling the Beans (1986), a satirical guide to the Alternative Movement written by Martin Stott that appears to have first put Totnes ‘on the map’ as far as being a ‘New Age centre’ was concerned. In a section on ‘Where to live’ Stott suggests:

“The area of Britain to live in is Devon. There are more natural healers, holistic health practitioners, alternative therapists and other inner-directed souls to the square mile in Devon than in any other part of the country. South Devon is better than North Devon. The Totnes-Ashburton area is the veritable Marin County of Britain. Living there is what all ATs [Alternative Types] ultimately aspire to”

In the local vernacular ‘TQ9ers’ (the first part of the postcode of the area around Totnes) has since become a local term for Stott’s (1986) ‘Alternative Types’. Stott was familiar with the area having visited Dartmoor to attend men’s therapies workshops and through visiting friends who were going ‘self-sufficient’. He also developed friendships with Maurice Ash and Satish Kumar which increased his knowledge of the area. Kemp (2004) notes the tendency of the media to name places as ‘New Age’ centres and it was in the early 1990s that this place myth began to circulate in the mass media with reference to Totnes. This therefore reflects the point when Totnes began to develop countercultural reputations alongside but separate to those of Dartington. Other ‘place myths’ have also emerged. In April 2005 Totnes was designated as one of the top 10 ‘Funky’ places to live in the world by the British Airways in-house magazine High Life. This was not only mentioned by several interviewees but also now features within the Tourist literature for the town.

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The Towards Total Health group that Pat Kitto started in September 1977 became the driving force behind the development of the Totnes Natural Health Centre.  It opened on Sunday 24^th September 1978 at 1 Castle Street, within Totnes. The first programme of activity included a Spinning group for beginners, a Healing group, a Yoga therapy group and a Meditation group. All sessions were free, although donations could be made, and the intention, according to Pat Kitto, was that it was that:

The centre is there to serve the community of in the interests of health, and we would very much welcome suggestions from the people of Totnes. We are not offering medicines or potions, or even advice. What we are trying to promote is the idea that we are all responsible for our own health.

Pat Kitto’s claims the centre to be the first of its type in the country at the time of its launch, and this is certainly something that is still believed locally. Saunders (1975, 173) lists several alternative health centres but none which are specifically called ‘Natural Health Centres’. Adams’ (1982) directory lists around 20 similar centres nationally, so if not the very first, it was certainly one of the first of this type, and its emphasis on wider community access and free consultations may have been particularly innovative.  In 1980 it moved to new premises at 69 Fore Street and would move again twice before ending up at its current location on The Plains. The Centre did receive a grant from the Elmgrants Trust, a small grants scheme established by the Elmhirsts in the 1930s.  It also benefited from the patronage of Ruth Ash, husband of Maurice and daughter of Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst, who paid the rent for the centre whilst Pat Kitto was involved and then left it a bequest which enabled it to purchase its current premises.

Anyway, here is an extract from my research about the origins of the Womens’ Centre in Totnes. As ever I would welcome any anecdotes, recollection, corrections etc.

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A women’s group was started in Totnes by Hazel Selene who had moved to the area in 1979 in order to send her two daughters to the Dartington School. She was surprised to find that there was not a women’s group already in Totnes and so placed an advert in the feminist alternative magazine Spare Rib which was published in April and May of 1979. The group began meeting in the Totnes Natural Health Centre but then was able to move out to its own centre at 4 The Plains in May 1981. This was a former library building that was owned by the husband of one of the group members, Carol Briscoe.

The Totnes Women’s Centre became the focus for a number of different activities and groups. It acted as an information centre and offered free pregnancy testing and advice. Several women owned businesses were there including a bookshop that was run by Carol Briscoe and which stocked non-sexist and feminist literature and which had a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ with Arcturus, the other ‘alternative’ bookshop not to stock occult or natural healing books. There were also Green Shoes, two craft style clothing companies (Schmocks and Woolnut) an English School for foreign students, as well as Hazel Selene,  who practiced reflexology and metamorphic technique therapies. The centre also offered a regular programme of meetings and workshops and provided the space for a number of groups including consciousness raising, feminist studies and a writers group. Another group, Totnes Women for Peace also met at the centre. They were one strand of the anti-nuclear political activism within Totnes and they were active both locally and through participation in the Greenham Common protests.

Like some of the businesses in Totnes, the centre benefited from the presence of the students in the area, particularly because Dartington College of Arts was itself imbued with feminist politics in the late 1970s. The group were in the process of purchasing the centre when it burnt down on 1 February 1986 and although some of the activities continued, they were not reunited in the same space. The Totnes Women’s Centre later featured centrally in the novel Mothers and Other Lovers by Joanna Brisco (1994), daughter of the building’s owners during its existence.

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Adult educational courses played a part in the circulation of countercultural ideas and it was during the 1970s that there were increasing numbers of courses were held in Totnes. Yoga courses in Totnes started in 1971 and received an ‘amazingly good response’, with over 50 people attending. Throughout the nineteen-seventies there was a regular stream of craft based courses as part of the adult education programme within the town. As the decade wore on these were augmented by a number of courses with links to alternative lifestyles including Grow your own food (Sept 1975); Self-sufficiency (Jan 1976); Wholefood Cookery (Jan 1978); Towards Total Health (Jan 1978) and Tai Chi (Sept 1978). Obviously these courses were one way in which people could begin to experiment with alternative lifestyle practices.

Group meetings and public talks also provided another form of countercultural social space which facilitated the circulation of new ideas. A range of different groups became active in Totnes during this era reflecting the different strands of countercultural politics. Thus there were social movements groups (Friends of the Earth, Anti-Nazi League, Ecology Party, Totnes Women’s Group); alternative health groups (Natural Childbirth Trust; Co-counselling; Towards Total Health); alternative spiritualities (Totnes Buddhist group, Sanyassins, Quakers).  Therefore throughout the 1970s growing numbers of meetings were held in Totnes covering a range of topics.

Many of these were held at Birdwood House. Arguably this has been one of the most important countercultural spaces in the town. Birdwood House itself has Dartington connections, it was given to the town by Douglas and Leila Mitchell, who had Dartington connections and settled in the town in 1950s. Their son Chris Mitchell, was one of the people behind Sherrack and also ran an antique business, which McRobbie (1997) suggests was another popular line of ‘hippy’ enterprise in the 1970s. Birdwood House had been at the service of the town since the late 1950s and offered meeting space, office space for groups and a gallery for local artists. During the 1970s it was used by the Quakers, Hood Faire committee, the Anti-Nazi League, Towards Total Health Group, Friends of the Earth, the embryonic Steiner group and for talks on Buddhism, alternative technology, Baha’i faith, and Trancendental Meditation. Geographically, Birdwood House is right in the middle of Totnes, next to the market and thus put such topics and groups right at the ‘heart’ of town, not out on the periphery, or out of sight. Other venues in town tend to be linked to various traditions of Christian worship and may not have been open to the practicing and promotion of alternative spiritualities, so the fact that it was a non-religious venue was significant. Birdwood House was therefore a neutral space, and one which, being central in Totnes provided alternative sub-cultures with a visible and accessible venue. Although its users have changed Birdwood House has continued to fulfil this role within the town, during the 1980s and early 1990s as the home of the Community Office which was involved in a number of projects and activities such as LETS, TILT and permaculture and since then as the Birdwood Bureau, a shared office facility for the Totnes Development Trust and the Devon Lane Credit Union amongst others. It still also functions as a meeting space and an art gallery for local artists through which they can exhibit their work at a low cost.  Finally, in the early 1980s the Anti-Nuclear Alliance, a coalition of different local anti-nuclear and peace groups, also publicised their politics by having a stall outside Birdwood House on Saturdays. This practice which is continued on a weekly basis in the present day by the Totnes Genetix Group (ToGG) anti-GM campaign group.

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The Dart magazine

The Dart was launched in April 1981 it was the second attempt at a community magazine in the area, although geographically it covered a wider area that encompassed the watershed of the river Dart spreading from Dartmouth up to Princetown on the moor. It was the intention of the founders that this should reflect the ‘bio-region’ of the River Dart, connecting up the various communities along the river valleys.

Like other institutions of the alternative society, community newspapers were premised on a perceived ‘failure’ of mainstream society, in this case the coverage of the mainstream, commercial media. As a review of the first issue notes of The Dart

It was put together by a small group of people concerned that established papers in the area are not fulfilling their role of providing a proper range of information about local issues.

The Dart was published bi-monthly for twenty years until 2001. Like Sherrack it also carried adverts for some of the ‘countercultural’ businesses and in its earlier years it played a similar role in promoting local groups and issues. For example, the Totnes Women’s Centre and later TILT, the local investment fund that was created at the end of the 1980s . Perhaps not surprisingly members of the editorial group were involved in both these organisations and so The Dart proved a useful awareness raising tool. It also campaigned on wider issues, as reflected in this summary from the 20^th anniversary edition:

Over the years it consistently argued for rural regeneration and support for local enterprise with an awareness for the environment, long before it was fashionable…acting as a communication channel from Princetown to Dartmouth for anyone with different ideas.

Like Sherrack there was also a local campaigning edge to the publication, in the case of The Dart this was primarily expressed through a close interest in the policies and practices of the Dartmoor National Park. Indeed in later years the geographic focus of the magazine shifted away from Totnes to the higher reaches of the river Dart, partly due to the geographic location of the people involved.