ReTool explores tactics that people employ to make ends meet in economically depressed cities. We are currently interviewing individuals involved in cottage industries; jitney services; yard sales; DIY culture; urban gardening; and work exchanges. We seek out all types of informal exchange – from tradesmen who swap a plumbing repair for an oil change, to the hawker scalping baseball tickets outside the stadium and the grandmother selling homemade pies at the church bazaar.
ReTool aims to reveal the ingenuity involved in ‘making do.’ By focusing on informal, localized economies, we bring attention to the transformative potential of individual and community action. ReTool points to the cracks and folds in the system where new social arrangements can take root and grow.
