Doughnut Economy Amsterdam A reimagination of urban sustainability policies and citizenship

Abstract

This thesis aimed to provide an overview of what has transpired since the Doughnut Economy aspiration was first articulated in the urban setting of Amsterdam. This thesis looked into the sustainability conceptualizations that are adopted and executed by taking a look at both the municipal system and a bottom-up initiative called Kaskantine. The first chapter provides insight information on the municipal system and the Doughnut Economy. I have highlighted analogies between the transition to a Doughnut Economy and important concerns that are found by previous researchers in sustainable transitions. The second chapter is summarizing a micro-social situation where concerned citizens gather at a grassroots initiative in Amsterdam Nieuw-West called the Kaskantine. Borrowing Isin's re-orientation of citizenship I use his concept of "acts of citizenship", to demonstrate what practices the founders of the citizen-led initiative the Kaskantine utilize to oppose and alter the "unsustainable" hegemonic ideologies and institutions that govern the city. Making claims on rights to ecological and social justice, these activities offer insights into how sustainability is viewed and asserted from a holistic standpoint. Finally, this thesis documents how citizen-led activities in Amsterdam Nieuw-West have opened up a local partnership between the Kaskantine and a representative of the Amsterdam municipality. In this way citizens are, similar like municipalists, looking for a democratic transformation of cities, to resist growing inequalities, democratic deficits and social injustices.