Rural Sociology Group
The Rural Sociology Group recombines different sociological theories and interdisciplinary approaches to study the many forms of power, inequality and unevenness. It starts from the everyday life of people to understand transformation processes in agriculture, food provisioning, and rural development from a comparative perspective. Our research provides a theoretically informed understanding of issues of equity, governance, oppression, resistance, and hope by rethinking of possible alternative futures for a more sustainable, just and inclusive society.
Chairholder
Weblog
Our colleagues and students regularly share their research, field experiences, educational journeys, and more. Dive into their stories for an insiders’ perspective.
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Research themes
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Agrarian change
The Rural Sociology Group researches the dynamics of agriculture, including meaningful diversity in farming, the (gendered) organisation of work and labour, the politics of nature-society interaction, land rights and struggles, markets, conflicts around knowledge and technology, and questions of dependency and autonomy.
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Food provisioning
The Rural Sociology Group studies diverse forms of food provisioning and alternative food economies in rural and urban settings, and the role of hopeful critiques of the modernisation, globalisation and industrialisation of food systems.
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Rural development
The Rural Sociology Group studies ongoing transformations of rural areas and underlying power dynamics, contributing to making rural futures more fair and just. RSO therefore explores newly emerging modes of food provisioning, non-food goods and services, and belonging. We study changing social interaction between social movements, scientists, local people, and state and business actors.
Education
We teach courses on topics linked to rurality, food provisioning and place-based development. We offer possibilities to do a bachelor, master thesis or internship.
Latest publications
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La Agenda Política del "Agroextractivismo Verde" en América Latina
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How the social dignity of recipients is violated and protected across various forms of food aid in high-income countries : a scoping review
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(Un)intended lock-in : Chile’s organic agriculture law and the possibility of transformation towards more sustainable food systems