Radical rural place-making? Agricultural grassroots initiatives in the everyday negotiation of the European countryside

Abstract

In the context of capitalist and conservative renderings of European countrysides, ‘radical rural’ initiatives (Halfacree, 2007) have received increasing attention. Agricultural grassroots initiatives (AGIs), although acknowledged for their contribution to post-capitalist agri-food systems, have rarely been considered for their broader performances of radical ruralities. This paper provides an examination of the role of AGIs in remaking rural places beyond agricultural change. It draws on a conceptual framework that centres on constructing, inheriting, and negotiating as key processes in place-making. Through this framework, the paper explores two contrasting community-supported agriculture (CSA) initiatives in East and Southwest rural Germany. These case studies show that AGIs can be agents of more-than-agricultural change in rural communities: they can promote rural commons, create learning opportunities for post-capitalist thinking, create opportunities for the encounter of difference, and may even foster networks of rural leftist and antifascist politics. At the same time, they illustrate how not all AGIs will be radical, nor intentional, rural place-makers and highlight the key role of more and less positively disposed rural neighbours. The paper thus demonstrates the importance of studying radical rural initiatives beyond the internal characteristics of their ‘islands’. The making of radical ruralities will always happen in everyday negotiations with other rural place-makers, shaped by the histories and socio-material fabrics of specific rural places.