Emplaced Partnerships and the Ethics of Care, Recognition and Resilience

The aim of the SI is to bring to the fore the places in which cross-sector partnerships (CSPs) are formed; how place shapes the dynamics of CSPs, and how CSPs shape the specific settings in which they develop. The papers demonstrate that partnerships and place are intrinsically reciprocal: the morality and materiality inherent in places repeatedly reset the reference points for partners, trigger epiphanies, shift identities, and redistribute capacities to act. Place thus becomes generative of partnerships in the most profound sense: by developing an awareness of their emplacement, CSPs commit to place, and through their place-based commitments produce three intertwined modalities of place-specific ethics that bind CSPs and place: ethic of recognition, an ethic of care, and an ethic of resilience. Our authors have found vivid examples of how emplaced CSPs embody these ethics, signaling hope for the sustainability of our (always hyper-local) life-worlds.

Automated summary

The aim of this study is to explore the formation of cross-sector partnerships (CSPs) and their dynamics in specific places. The research shows that partnerships and place have a reciprocal relationship, where the morality and materiality of a place influence the behavior of partners. The authors identify three intertwined place-specific ethics - recognition, care, and resilience - that bind CSPs and place. Examples of emplaced CSPs embody these ethics and offer hope for the sustainability of local communities.