Happy to share the publication of a recent article in Sociologia Ruralis, “Agroecology for migrant ‘emplacement’ in the left-behind European countryside” by Simone Cappati and Alberto Alonso-Fradejas. In this work, they explore the intersection of the green and demographic transitions in the European Union, focusing on the role of agroecology in the settlement and socioeconomic integration of diverse newcomers in Italy’s ageing and marginalised rural areas.

The article analyzes the challenges and opportunities faced by both Italian city-dwellers-turned-agroecological farmers and non-EU agroecological farmworkers in these communities. Through the lens of agroecological initiatives supported by municipalities and NGOs, they investigate how these efforts contribute to the EU Green Deal while offering newcomers a chance to participate in sustainable rural (re)development. Their findings suggest that agroecology has the potential to foster ’emplacement’ by facilitating everyday interactions between long-time residents and newcomers, though they also highlight potential issues of injustice that may arise from exploitative labor practices.

Read the full article here.

Luister naar de nieuwste aflevering van de podcast De Sociologie Show met Bettina Bock. De voorlaatste verkiezingen leken met de winst van de BBB gedomineerd door gevoelens van miskenning in de regio’s en dorpen. Is dat gevoel sinds een jaar – en de blijvende verschrompeling van de BBB – soms verdwenen?

Bettina Bock, in Wageningen hoogleraar inclusieve plattelandsontwikkeling en in Groningen bijzonder hoogleraar bevolkingsdaling en leefbaarheid in noord Nederland, heeft daar zicht op. Hoe zit het met de gevoelens van miskenning buiten de stad? En zijn de zorgzame gemeenschappen die nu op veel plekken wortel schieten een bron van trots?

Presentatie door Tara Lewis (journalist) en Marcel Ham (hoofdredacteur van Tijdschrift voor Sociale Vraagstukken).

Luister de podcast hier.

The complexity of food production and consumption in the Netherlands is deeply intertwined with international dynamics, requiring new approaches to sustainability. In this new publication, ten essays explore how global interconnections influence the ability of governments to shape policies and drive societal change within the Dutch food system.

Our colleagues Bettina Bock and Han Wiskerke contributed an essay, “Food from Near and Far: Shifting Relationships in the Food Chain.” They explore how agriculture has evolved since WWII, marked by modernization, globalization, and the rise of local food initiatives. These shifts not only affect nature and landscapes but also challenge how we balance efficiency, sustainability, and social cohesion.

You can download and read the publication here (available in Dutch only).

Joost Jongerden and Francis O’Connor recently published a commentary in which they discuss the  Kurdistan  Workers Party’s  (PKK) municipal politics  in  the  late 1970s  through  the  lens  of  citizenship  politics. The data for this work is based on empirical research on the PKK’s political activities among  rural  workers,  peasants,  women  and  workers  in  the  petrol industry   in   Batman   and   Hilvan,   including 24   interviews   with witnesses   and   activists   engaged   in   the   PKK’s   electoral   and representative  municipal political  work  in  the  1970s.

The  article  introduces  two  concepts – activist citizenship  and  fugitive  citizenship  – to  analyse the PKK’s mobilisation in this period, before the 1980   military   coup   in   Turkey. Activist citizenship  challenges  the  restrictive  boundaries of  state-sanctioned  citizenship,  while  fugitive citizenship creates alternative political spaces for marginalized  groups.  Both  concepts  highlight how individuals and groups, such as the PKK, can  assert  their  political  agency  in  contexts where  they  are  denied  formal  citizenship.  The research questions linear  understandings of the PKK’s   emergence   as   a   political   movement inevitably  destined  to  become  an  insurgent movement.

The PKK’s participation in municipal electoral and representative politics in the late 1970s in Batman and Hilvan was the PKK’s first attempt to establish Kurds as citizens, a struggle which continued in activist and fugitive forms through the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, albeit in the shadow of the violent storm of insurgency, mass rural population displacement and suffering which characterised the years after 1984.

Read more: https://journals.tplondon.com/com/article/view/3428

The joy of interdisciplinary collaboration! Yes, there are barriers and challenges, but in setting up the Centre for Unusual Collaborations (CUCo) the main surprising outcomes were joy, a sense of meaning and creativity. We coined this ‘collateral happiness’.

With due pride we share: new paper out now! Recounting the journey of the first two years of the Centre for Unusual Collaborations; its origins, lessons learned and recommendations for universities and funders to better support unusual collaborations.

The paper elaborates on three roadblocks to funding inter- and transdisciplinary research, as well as how these were overcome – or not! The three roadblocks are:
1) Rewards and recognition – and this remains a major hurdle to this day!
2) Funding trust-building and interdisciplinary collaboration
3) Competencies, tools and approaches

Congratulations to all the authors! And great thanks to Springer Nature Group Humanities and Social Sciences Communications for the smooth reviewing and editorial process.

View the publication here