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What’s wrong with permaculture design courses? Brazilian lessons for agroecological movement-building in Canada

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  • Marie-Josée Massicotte

    (Institute for Feminist and Gender Studies)

  • Christopher Kelly-Bisson

    (University of Ottawa)

Abstract

This paper focuses on the centrality of permaculture design courses (PDCs) as the principal sociopolitical strategy of the permaculture community in Canada to transform local food production practices. Building on the work of Antonio Gramsci and political agroecology as a framework of analysis, we argue that permaculture instruction remains deeply embedded within market and colonial relations, which orients the pedagogy of permaculture trainings in such a way as to reproduce the basic elements of the colonial capitalist economy among its practitioners. In the specific case of eastern Ontario, this embeddedness had the effect of diluting the transformative capacity of permaculture practitioners who were unable to create its own social movement organization. The paper then highlights key elements of the agroecological pedagogy used by the Brazilian Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) and the Escola Latinoamericana de Agroecología (Latin American School of Agroecology, or ELAA) in Paraná, Brazil. The objective is to draw lessons from these inspiring experiences, in a rather unique context of struggles that can help to critically assess the pedagogical practices and principles presently informing permaculture communities in Canada and in advanced industrialized countries more generally. We then conclude by reiterating the key arguments and lessons drawn from the Brazilian pedagogical experiences, pointing out the importance of engagement and coalition-building with established rural and urban movements, as well as progressive farmer, Indigenous, and rural associations to foster a just and sustainable transformation of agri-food systems, starting at the local and regional levels. It also emphasizes the need for the most marginalized sectors to lead the way towards an agroecological transition.

Suggested Citation

  • Marie-Josée Massicotte & Christopher Kelly-Bisson, 2019. "What’s wrong with permaculture design courses? Brazilian lessons for agroecological movement-building in Canada," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(3), pages 581-594, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:36:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s10460-018-9870-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-018-9870-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Víctor M. Toledo & Narciso Barrera-Bassols, 2017. "Political Agroecology in Mexico: A Path toward Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-13, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Inga C. Melchior & Jens Newig, 2021. "Governing Transitions towards Sustainable Agriculture—Taking Stock of an Emerging Field of Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-27, January.
    2. C. R. Anderson & R. Binimelis & M. P. Pimbert & M. G. Rivera-Ferre, 2019. "Introduction to the symposium on critical adult education in food movements: learning for transformation in and beyond food movements—the why, where, how and the what next?," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(3), pages 521-529, September.
    3. Daniel C. Kelly, 2023. "Committing to change? A case study on volunteer engagement at a New Zealand urban farm," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(3), pages 1317-1331, September.

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