What is the price of playing with love? | Workshop by Erin Araujo

What do love and economy have in common? At first glance, they might seem worlds apart—one rooted in intimacy, connection, and care, the other often associated with systems of exchange, labor, and ownership. Yet, love has long been a site of economic practice, shaped by historical processes, colonial narratives, and power structures.

The workshop aims to explore how these themes intersect with the colonial histories embedded in modern economies, examining how practices of commodification and control love and relationships have shaped. Through an imaginative “speed-dating” game with diverse economic theories—including commons, solidarity economies, and feminist economics—participants will engage playfully with ideas that challenge extractive logics and open pathways to transformative economic practices. The session then turns to the decolonial roots of economic systems, exploring how love and relationships have been commodified and reconfigured as sites of control. Together, we’ll question dominant narratives and consider alternatives centered on collective care, cooperation, and justice. By rethinking these entanglements, the workshop offers space to imagine economies rooted in reciprocity, justice, and collective care.

Part 1: Speed-Dating with Theories and Practices of Economic Diversity and Transformation

This session reimagines relationships with different economic paradigms. Through a playful “speed-dating” format, participants will encounter diverse economic theories, from the commons and solidarity economy to feminist and communitarian economics.

Part 2: Love, Economy, and Decoloniality

The second part of the workshop explores how love has been shaped as a space where colonial economic practices play out—from the extraction of care to the commodification of relationships. Together, participants will imagine together decolonial alternatives where love, reciprocity, and solidarity challenge extractive paradigms.

Erin Araujo, PhD, is a geographer specializing in decolonial feminist and anarchist diverse economies. Based in Chiapas, Mexico, since 2007, she co-founded El Cambalache, a moneyless micro-economy, and the Department of Decolonial Economics. A former editor for ‘ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies,’ Erin writes, teaches, and practices moneyless economies and oral histories of decolonial practices in the Americas.

Lito Skopeliti is a facilitator and researcher in transformative economies with a background in theater studies and a Master’s in Social Solidarity Economy. She focuses on cooperative initiatives addressing ecological challenges and fosters regenerative cultures through workshops on alternative economies, affective listening, and non-violent communication. Lito was a participant of The School of Infinite Rehearsals of Οnassis AiR 2020-21 and the Tailor-made Fellowships program 2022-23.

The “Curated by our Fellows” series is an Onassis AiR initiative that invites past and current Fellows to shape the program by organizing events, talks, screenings, workshops, and more.

Previous events include the screening program “Our Task in the Question of Peace,” curated by Nionia Films; the panel discussion “Data Dreams and Ethical Realities,” coordinated by Zoe Hatziyiannaki; and the screening of films by Mona Benyamin, coordinated by Anastasia Diavasti.