The Peasant Activism Project

The “Peasant Activism Project” is part of a vibrant international research network and organizes events, conferences and documentary screenings. We carry out research related to neo-rural activism and the globalization of the countryside. Our current work is financed by different national and international projects and stems out of a major ethnographic study of activism for food sovereignty in Italy financed by the Economic and Social Science Research Council (ESRC), UK, hosted by Queen’s University Belfast (Project code ES/M011291/1).

Neorural Activism – Innovations in the Countryside

Small-scale farmers and neo-rural activists are particularly vulnerable in front of an increasingly globalised food system. Many of those who pursue sustainable lifestyles and produce quality food often find themselves in difficulties with tightening regulations food safety and the technocratic demands in relation to the certification of standards, considered by many as favoring large industrial productions.

The core innovation of our study derives from the attempt to shed light on how food sovereignty activism in Italy reappriates the “right to certify” food quality and safety. This will allow a renewed ‘political understanding’ of food activism, renewing the anthropology of food in terms of sovereignty and citizenship, rather than in relation to questions of identity and culture.

Political Imagination Laboratories

Our regular flagship events of the “Political Imagination Laboratory” bring together scholars, activists and filmmakers who investigate innovative forms of political activism on rural-urban relations.

Here you can find information on past events.