Diverse alternatives to capitalism are emerging in a myriad of spaces and forms, with the shared intention of creating a more socially and ecologically sustainable world.

One minute you’re walking down the street, carrying with you a feeling of stability and security. In the next, you’re being swept away by a current of chaos and panic, with nothing but a profound feeling of being completely trapped by the uncertainty of what’s to come next.

While conducting my PhD fieldwork in west-central Nepal I found that showing respect, compassion and care for the non-human members of the communities in which I was doing research went a long way to build trust and points of connection between myself as an outside researcher and the people and social worlds that I was trying to get to know.

“Organic Jim” is how he’s known as in Marchmont. Jim doesn’t have a home, as most people would define it, and he spends much of his time roaming around the streets of this area of Edinburgh. I first got to know Jim when I was walking home from a friend’s place. He was sitting next to a dumpster bundled up in blankets, and I asked him what his name was.