Story of an Organic Farmer’s Market in Palermo: Between Grassroots Environmentalism and Clientelism
Journal title PARTECIPAZIONE E CONFLITTO
Author/s Giovanni Orlando
Publishing Year 2012 Issue 2012/2
Language Italian Pages 27 P. 106-132 File size 353 KB
DOI 10.3280/PACO2012-002005
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Narrating the story of an organic farmers’ market, this article explores ideals and practices of sustainable urban food through an example of consumer activism in Palermo. It reflects critically on the understandings of ‘sustainability’ held by the actors involved, showing the difficulties of operationalising the concept for socio-cultural research. It also highlights the potential of grass-roots activism among consumers and farmers. This potential runs counter to an enduring image of southern Italy as a place where civil society initiatives are wanting. By analysing the market’s history until its demise due to difficulties with the centre-right-wing municipality, the article shows how it is the political element, rather than the cultural one, that often constrains grass-roots activism in Sicily. These problems of power and political representation question whether consumer mobilization can become a tool for environmental transformation in locales where institutions are not already favourably disposed to the values of such mobilisation.
Keywords: Organic Agriculture; Sustainability; Social Movements; Clientelism; Palermo
Giovanni Orlando, Storia di un mercato biologico a Palermo: tra ambientalismo di base e clientelismo in "PARTECIPAZIONE E CONFLITTO" 2/2012, pp 106-132, DOI: 10.3280/PACO2012-002005