Sovová, L., Cima, O., Jehlička, P., Pungas, L., Sattler, M., Smith, T.S.J., Decker, A., Johanisova, N., Kovanen, S., and North, P., writing as Polička Collective (2025), On Babushkas and Postcapitalism: Theorising Diverse Economies from the Global East. Antipode. https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.70034

As transformative visions for more just and sustainable societies multiply around the globe, the Diverse and Community Economies approach presents one of the most influential strategies to advance postcapitalist visions. In this paper, we contribute to this project based on our research and activism in the Global East, intended here as Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. We argue that engaging with the Global East is not only a matter of epistemic inclusivity but also a (too-often-neglected) opportunity to learn from a region with a history of dramatic economic transformation and diversity. We highlight examples of community economies already contributing to more-than-human wellbeing, and we present emerging theoretical insights concerning temporality, the multi-sitedness of the enterprise, and diverse economic subjectivities. With that, we articulate our ongoing research agenda and advance conversations with postcapitalist scholarship and politics.

The International Scientific Committee of the REA – Italian Review of Agricultural Economics has awarded the REA Best Paper Award 2024 to Jan Douwe van der Ploeg for his article “Rural Studies: A New Paradigm that Integrates Previously Separated Disciplines”, published in Volume 79 (2024). In this article, Van der Ploeg argues that in reaction to a neo-classical approach, neo-institutional economics (NIE) and rural sociology (RS) equips rural studies with powerful tools to identify and analyse the institutions shaping farming communities.

The abstract of the article writes: “Rural studies are the theoretically informed and empirically grounded integration of disciplines that, until recently, were widely separated. This separation came with different grammars, mutually contrasting problem definitions and different methodological instruments that together resulted in a scattered understanding of countryside, farming, and the processing and distribution of food. The article discusses the main features of rural studies and especially explores the theoretical, institutional and historical backgrounds of these features. It argues that the specificity of agriculture strongly impacts its study and theoretical representation – as much as the resulting theories contribute to shaping the unfolding of agricultural activities over time.”

The full article is available here: https://edepot.wur.nl/687357

New publication by Lani Trenouth & Lucie Sovová 

Trenouth, L., Sovová, L. (Alternative) food consumption practices in Central and Eastern Europe: an integrative critical literature review. Agriculture and Human Values (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-025-10717-0

Abstract

Research on food consumption practices in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has grown significantly over the last two decades, documenting the region’s diverse food practices. By focusing on the region’s distinct history and socio-cultural dynamics, this body of work enriches global food studies scholarship and increasingly challenges dominant narratives surrounding alternative food networks (AFNs), which are primarily based on empirical and theoretical work from Western Europe and North America. In this study, we conducted an integrative critical literature review and thematic analysis to explore “alternative” food consumption practices in CEE. Our exploratory, content-driven approach involved reviewing a wide range of empirical and theoretical studies, synthesizing existing knowledge, and extending it through an interpretive thematic analysis. We identified key themes depicted in the English-language academic literature on alternative food consumption practices in CEE, including autonomy, resistance, tradition, identity, informal networks, (dis)trust, choice, and values. We also noted tensions in the literature related to concepts of tradition, culture, Europeanization, overt and covert sustainability, “normal” consumption, and ethical consumption. A recurrent concept in this literature is hybridity, suggesting that many food consumption practices in CEE occupy an ambivalent space, raising questions about notions of “alternative” and “conventional” consumption. Overall, our synthesis underscores the importance of cultural nuances and historical trajectories in shaping regional food systems. With this review, we aim to advance food studies scholarship through an analysis of the evidence emerging from this under-represented region.