Islanders in the Outer Hebrides are patching together crofting, community-owned wind turbines, and textile work to keep their communities alive—and this project will study how those strategies work. The problem is that policymakers in distant cities often misunderstand these remote economies, treating them as fragile relics rather than dynamic systems. This research fills a gap in knowledge by using anthropological fieldwork to examine how people combine individual resourcefulness—like holding multiple jobs or householding—with collective ventures such as land buyouts and cooperatives. If successful, the project could change how government agencies and funders design support for rural and island communities, replacing top-down decisions with approaches that reflect local realities. The insights may also inform broader debates about sustainable futures and alternative economic models, offering lessons for other regions facing depopulation or economic precarity. This is primarily fundamental social science, but past work in economic anthropology has shaped policies on community development and land reform—similar impacts are plausible here.
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The Outer Hebrides of Scotland are often described as remote, economically fragile and threatened by depopulation. Popular representations emphasise the preservation of 'traditional ways of life', locating the islands vaguely 'out of time'. Yet, as this project will explore, a closer look reveals not only the continuity of crofting, peat-cutting, and Gaelic speaking, but also the emergence of 'innovative' forms of social and economic organising that have been vital to navigate - and sometimes challenge - the workings of global capitalism. These approaches range from resourceful individual projects of occupational pluralism and householding practices; to collective ventures such as ground-breaking community land buyouts and community-owned renewable energy projects, alongside the creation of social enterprises, co-operatives and community development trusts. My previous research into the Outer Hebridean textile industry (Nascimento 2023) hinted at the local significance of these often overlooked strategies, and suggested the need to conduct further research to grasp the complex interplay of individual approaches and collective projects aimed to protect livelihoods, avoid depopulation and cultivate 'sustainable futures'. This project will focus on some of those resourceful approaches and outlooks, drawing on anthropological frameworks, qualitative research and participatory approaches to examine their social, moral and economic implications, and aiming to reach audiences within and beyond academia. To do so, this project will explore how ethnographic research, social reproduction theory and an expanded concept of 'work' can improve our understanding of the ways in which livelihood strategies and 'sustainable futures' are variously being imagined, negotiated, contested and 're-worked' by local actors in the present. This project will locate these strategies in relation to broader discussions on social reproduction and the emergence of 'alternative' approaches to capitalism and 'the economy', examining how they relate to societal developments that go well beyond the boundaries of this fieldwork site. This research will contribute, in unique ways, to ongoing debates in economic anthropology, highlighting the importance of more holistic and nuanced approaches to the study of social, economic and organisational life in global capitalism. Doing so, this project will also generate insights that could inform interdisciplinary discussions, and prove helpful to practitioners, policymakers and other audiences beyond academia. This is particularly vital given the recurrent complaints voiced by islanders about the striking gaps in knowledge and understanding that have continuously shaped decision-making processes in distant metropolitan centres, with significant consequences for local lives and livelihoods. The project's emphasis on livelihood strategies and visions of 'sustainable futures' is also informed by the urgent need to understand not only how island communities may be uniquely vulnerable to 'wicked problems', but also how their resourceful approaches and outlooks may inform different ways of thinking and doing, generating academic and societal impact.
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