IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/agrhuv/v41y2024i3d10.1007_s10460-023-10529-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Intersectional coalitions towards a just agroecology: weaving mutual aid and agroecology in Barcelona and Seville

Author

Listed:
  • Francesco Facchini

    (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB), UAB Campus)

  • Daniel López-García

    (Spanish National Research Council (IEGD/CSIC))

  • Sergio Villamayor-Tomas

    (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB), UAB Campus)

  • Esteve Corbera

    (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB), UAB Campus
    Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA)
    Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, UAB Campus)

Abstract

Although in theory social justice is considered as a core dimension of agroecological transitions, alternative food initiatives related to agroecology have been criticised for their exclusionary practices based on important social and economic biases. In this article, we adopt the lens of political intersectionality to study two cases of Agroecology-oriented Food Redistribution Coalitions in Spain that emerged to address the rising levels of food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that the coalitions represent a convergence of diverse social struggles, placing intersectionally marginalized groups at the centre of their activism. However, we also uncover that coalition members participate in different ways depending on their socioeconomic profiles, which could perpetuate inequalities in organizational practices. One major point of tension is the need to balance the goal of providing access to healthy and sustainable food with the affordability of such produce. This leads to the adoption of hybrid food networks that include conventionally produced food. We also highlight that while the predominance of women in these coalitions reflects the unequal distribution of food-related care work in society, the collectivization of such work through AFRCs practices points to a transformation of gender relations. Territorialized alliances between actors from urban and rural settings and between urban centers and peripheries are established through the coalitions. However, such networks fall short on involving large numbers of agroecology-oriented initiatives and providing direct encounters between consumers and producers. Overall, the article underscores the importance of addressing intersecting inequalities within alternative food initiatives and argues that intersectional coalitions offer an intriguing example of how to promote such understanding and pave the way towards (more) just agroecological transitions.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesco Facchini & Daniel López-García & Sergio Villamayor-Tomas & Esteve Corbera, 2024. "Intersectional coalitions towards a just agroecology: weaving mutual aid and agroecology in Barcelona and Seville," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 41(3), pages 955-973, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:41:y:2024:i:3:d:10.1007_s10460-023-10529-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-023-10529-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10460-023-10529-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10460-023-10529-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Salena Tramel, 2018. "Convergence as political strategy: social justice movements, natural resources and climate change," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(7), pages 1290-1307, July.
    2. Bobby J. Smith, 2019. "Food justice, intersectional agriculture, and the triple food movement," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(4), pages 825-835, December.
    3. Daniel López-García & Manuel González de Molina, 2021. "An Operational Approach to Agroecology-Based Local Agri-Food Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-18, July.
    4. V. Ernesto Méndez & Martha Caswell & Stephen R. Gliessman & Roseann Cohen, 2017. "Integrating Agroecology and Participatory Action Research (PAR): Lessons from Central America," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-19, April.
    5. Terry Marsden & Paul Hebinck & Erik Mathijs, 2018. "Re-building food systems: embedding assemblages, infrastructures and reflexive governance for food systems transformations in Europe," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(6), pages 1301-1309, December.
    6. Zoe W. Brent & Christina M. Schiavoni & Alberto Alonso-Fradejas, 2015. "Contextualising food sovereignty: the politics of convergence among movements in the USA," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(3), pages 618-635, March.
    7. Saturnino M. Borras Jr. & Tsegaye Moreda & Alberto Alonso-Fradejas & Zoe W. Brent, 2018. "Converging social justice issues and movements: implications for political actions and research," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(7), pages 1227-1246, July.
    8. Ragin, Charles C., 2000. "Fuzzy-Set Social Science," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226702773, December.
    9. Rivera-Ferre, Marta G. & López-i-Gelats, Feliu & Ravera, Federica & Oteros-Rozas, Elisa & di Masso, Marina & Binimelis, Rosa & El Bilali, Hamid, 2021. "The two-way relationship between food systems and the COVID19 pandemic: causes and consequences," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    10. Ryan E. Galt, 2013. "The Moral Economy Is a Double-edged Sword: Explaining Farmers’ Earnings and Self-exploitation in Community-Supported Agriculture," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 89(4), pages 341-365, October.
    11. Ryan E. Galt, 2013. "The Moral Economy Is a Double-edged Sword: Explaining Farmers’ Earnings and Self-exploitation in Community-Supported Agriculture," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 89(4), pages 341-365, October.
    12. repec:ucp:bkecon:9780226702766 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Miguel A. Altieri & Clara Ines Nicholls, 2020. "Agroecology and the emergence of a post COVID-19 agriculture," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(3), pages 525-526, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sara A. L. Smaal & Joost Dessein & Barend J. Wind & Elke Rogge, 2021. "Social justice-oriented narratives in European urban food strategies: Bringing forward redistribution, recognition and representation," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(3), pages 709-727, September.
    2. Yuna Chiffoleau & Tara Dourian, 2020. "Sustainable Food Supply Chains: Is Shortening the Answer? A Literature Review for a Research and Innovation Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-21, November.
    3. Ricardo Serra Borsatto & Vanilde Ferreira Souza-Esquerdo & Henrique Carmona Duval & Fernando Silveira Franco & Fabio Grigoletto, 2022. "Winning hearts and minds through a policy promoting the agroecological paradigm in universities," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(1), pages 5-18, March.
    4. Leslie Gray & Laureen Elgert & Antoinette WinklerPrins, 2020. "Theorizing urban agriculture: north–south convergence," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(3), pages 869-883, September.
    5. Enthoven, Laura & Van den Broeck, Goedele, 2021. "Local food systems: Reviewing two decades of research," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    6. Pierre Chiaverina & Sophie Drogué & Florence Jacquet & Larry Lev & Robert King, 2023. "Does short food supply chain participation improve farm economic performance? A meta‐analysis," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 54(3), pages 400-413, May.
    7. Arnaud Z. Dragicevic, 2021. "Emergence and Dynamics of Short Food Supply Chains," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 31-55, March.
    8. Marilyn Sitaker & Jared T. McGuirt & Weiwei Wang & Jane Kolodinsky & Rebecca A. Seguin, 2019. "Spatial Considerations for Implementing Two Direct-to-Consumer Food Models in Two States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-23, April.
    9. Sean Clark, 2020. "Financial Viability of an On-Farm Processing and Retail Enterprise: A Case Study of Value-Added Agriculture in Rural Kentucky (USA)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-16, January.
    10. Monica Allaby & Graham K. MacDonald & Sarah Turner, 2021. "Growing pains: Small-scale farmer responses to an urban rooftop farming and online marketplace enterprise in Montréal, Canada," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(3), pages 677-692, September.
    11. Horst, Megan & Gwin, Lauren, 2018. "Land access for direct market food farmers in Oregon, USA," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 594-611.
    12. Rachel Soper, 2020. "How wage structure and crop size negatively impact farmworker livelihoods in monocrop organic production: interviews with strawberry harvesters in California," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(2), pages 325-336, June.
    13. Franco, Jennifer C. & Borras, Saturnino M., 2019. "Grey areas in green grabbing: subtle and indirect interconnections between climate change politics and land grabs and their implications for research," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 192-199.
    14. Claudio Vitari & Erin Whittingham, 2018. "Tackling Conventional Agriculture: The Institutionalization of Community Supported Agriculture's (CSA) Principles," Post-Print halshs-01923789, HAL.
    15. Felix Zoll & Caitlin K. Kirby & Kathrin Specht & Rosemarie Siebert, 2023. "Exploring member trust in German community-supported agriculture: a multiple regression analysis," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(2), pages 709-724, June.
    16. Durant, Jennie L. & Asprooth, Lauren & Galt, Ryan E. & Schmulevich, Sasha Pesci & Manser, Gwyneth M. & Pinzón, Natalia, 2023. "Farm resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic: The case of California direct market farmers," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    17. Catherine Brinkley & Gwyneth M. Manser & Sasha Pesci, 2021. "Growing pains in local food systems: a longitudinal social network analysis on local food marketing in Baltimore County, Maryland and Chester County, Pennsylvania," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(4), pages 911-927, December.
    18. Tezcan Mert-Cakal & Mara Miele, 2020. "‘Workable utopias’ for social change through inclusion and empowerment? Community supported agriculture (CSA) in Wales as social innovation," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(4), pages 1241-1260, December.
    19. Volkov, Artiom & Morkunas, Mangirdas & Balezentis, Tomas & Streimikiene, Dalia, 2022. "Are agricultural sustainability and resilience complementary notions? Evidence from the North European agriculture," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    20. Javier Sanz-Cañada & José Luis Sánchez-Hernández & Daniel López-García, 2023. "Reflecting on the Concept of Local Agroecological Food Systems," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-22, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:41:y:2024:i:3:d:10.1007_s10460-023-10529-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.