Overview
This project aims to investigate transformations in agricultural and environmental practices and knowledge in Mallorca, their connection with wider political and social discourses, and their potential insertion into the new model of agricultural development demanded by private and public stakeholders. It will do so through the analysis of a series of cases of resilience, adaptation, and reinvention of agricultural labour, trade, and livelihoods by traditional and novel actors, as well as documenting memories of past configurations of agricultural activities and landscapes.
Local partners and communities
Local and seasonal migrant labourers; Agricultural entrepreneurs; ASAJA, Asociación Agraria de Jóvenes Productores (Association of Young Agricultural Producers); APAEMA, Associació de la Producció Agrària Ecològica de Mallorca (Agroecological Production Association of Mallorca); Som Pagesos, asociación de productores agroalimentarios de Mallorca (Association of Agri-food producers of Mallorca); Cooperativas Agro-Alimentarias de Mallorca (Association of Agri-food cooperatives of Mallorca); Unió de Pagesos de Mallorca (Farmer’s Union of Mallorca); Dirección General de Agricultura, Ganadería y Desarrollo Rural (Balearic Community office of Agriculture and Rural Environment); IBANAT (Balearic Community Environmental Agency).
Extended description
This project aims to investigate transformations in agricultural and environmental practices and knowledge in Mallorca, their connection with political and social discourses, and their potential insertion into the new model of agricultural development demanded by private and public stakeholders. It will do so through the analysis of a series of cases of resilience, adaptation, and reinvention of agricultural labour, trade, and livelihoods by traditional and novel actors, as well as documenting memories of past configurations of agricultural activities and landscapes.
The research will look at changes and mobility in labour (land workers); crops and/or livestock that constitute the productive supply (both traditional and new); and agricultural and ecological knowledge (traditional and new). It will also analyse how mobility in these areas relates to different political and social discourses, and how recognition of these transformations can contribute to reconceptualise agricultural development in line with the ongoing orientation towards a sustainable reconfiguration of tourism, and the current monoculture that sustains the islands’ economy.
To achieve these objectives, the project will analyse a series of cases of adaptation, continuity, and reinvention of agricultural work, trade, and ways of life, and will document testimonies about agricultural activities and landscapes from the recent past. This includes consulting and following the work of agricultural actors – local and seasonal workers, traditional farmers, landowners, shepherds, and hunters; "neorural" entrepreneurs, with or without an agroecological focus, oriented towards new markets; marketers of agricultural products; individuals and organisations working to promote and defend wild ecosystems and to reformulate agricultural exploitation; and relevant authorities and unions.
Keywords
Agriculture, transformations, peasants, neo-rural entrepreneurs, Mallorca