Democracy in Agriculture and Food Provisioning: A Citizenship Lens

Key topics include:

• Approaches and debates to citizenship and its relevance to contemporary agricultural, environmental, and food practices
• Case studies highlighting successful initiatives and challenges in democratizing agricultural, environmental and food practices
• The role of grassroots movements in practicing inclusive citizenship

Throughout the course, students will develop critical thinking skills and analytical tools to assess the complexities of democratization efforts in these domains. By the end of the course, participants will gain a nuanced understanding of the role citizenship plays in shaping fair and just agricultural, environmental, and food systems, and will be equipped with insights to contribute meaningfully to ongoing debates and practices in this field.

Democracy in Agriculture and Food Provisioning: A Citizenship Lens
In this course we will not only discuss citizenship as a status - defining who has entitlement to rights and who does not, and in what domain we have these rights and in which one does not, but also as a practice through which we can understand the struggle of various social movements for a more fair and just agricultural, environmental and food practices. rights through occupations, and at the same time enact this right.

Driven by the shared recognition that our agricultural and food systems have fostered unsustainable social and environmental disparities, social movements advocate for people's right to define their agricultural and food practices. Numerous initiatives have arisen to actualize this principle. Rather than framing our relationship with agriculture, environment, and food as that of mere consumers making individual market-driven decisions, these movements and initiatives emphasize the roles and responsibilities of individuals as active citizens in reshaping agricultural, environmental and food practices for more fair and just worlds. We will look into the dynamics of these movements and initiatives, critically evaluating the extent to which they embody novel forms of citizenship and their potential to democratize agricultural, environmental and food systems.

To grasp the struggle for democratizing our food and agricultural systems and achieving environmental justice, we will discuss a chain of concepts related to citizenship

and explore how they elucidate issues of inequality and unsustainability within these systems. We will examine various conceptions of citizenship, emphasizing active citizenship and the notion of rights. Additionally, we will assess the analytical and explanatory utility of these concepts for our research, deliberating on how the conceptual framework of rights and citizenship enhances our understanding of these struggles.

Setting

The course adopts an interdisciplinary approach, drawing upon insights from political science, rural sociology, environmental studies, and agrarian studies. Through engaging lectures, discussions, readings, and case studies, participants will examine various dimensions of agrarian, environmental and food citizenship.

While the seminars revolve around seminal texts, supplementary materials such as video documentaries and excursions will bolster discussions on food and agricultural citizenship and environmental justice.

Each session will entail a set of mandatory readings encompassing foundational literature and contemporary research perspectives on agricultural and food citizenship. It is imperative that all students complete these readings in advance to actively contribute to seminar discussions. Given the substantial time commitment required for these readings outside of seminar hours, participants must allocate sufficient time to fully engage with the course.

Learning goals

After successful completion of this course participants will:

• Distinguish different approaches and debates in citizenship studies in general and agrarian, environmental and food citizenship in particular
• Critique understandings of contemporary agrarian, environmental and food practices through the citizenship lens
• Compose a coherent analytical and methodological position with regard to citizenship approaches in agriculture and food

Assessment

To complete the 3 credits possible for this course, participants will need to:

• Keep a journal in which they reflect on the reading and discussions in class
• Attend and participate in each seminar

Target group and assumed prior knowledge

This course is intended for students doing a research master, PhD candidates, postdocs, and staff members who want to expand their engagement with the democratization of our agrarian, environmental and food practices and the citizenship approach to this. In order to ensure opportunities for full discussions during the sessions, the minimum number of participants is 10 and the maximum 20.

Assumed prior knowledge

Participants should have a master’s of be in the final year of their master's study in social sciences, political sciences, or geography.

Course fees

The course fee includes coffee/tea and lunches, one course dinner, and an excursion

Cancellation conditions

Participants can cancel their registration free of charge 1 month before the course starts. A cancellation fee of 100% applies if a participant cancels his/her registration less than 1 month prior to the start of the course.

The organisers have the right to cancel the course no later than one month before the planned course start date in the case that the number of registrations does not reach the minimum.

The participants will be notified of any changes at their e-mail addresses.