At the intersection of urban agriculture and social justice activism: practices and perceptions in Wilmington, Delaware
Date
2018
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Academic literature on USA urban agriculture’s (UA) potential for social justice (SJ) primarily centers on larger cities, such as Detroit or NYC. This focus obscures lessons from smaller cities such as Wilmington, Delaware. A diverse array of participants and organizations engage in UA in Wilmington with varying SJ goals and everyday practices within their sites. These goals and practices range from community change, education for underprivileged youth and marginalized communities, and providing economic opportunities. Participants’ perceptions of the impact of their social work also vary. Data gathered over the course of fieldwork conducted in 2017 suggests that considerations of the practice of UA in Wilmington, Delaware offers an alternative trajectory for evaluating its transformative potential. While possibilities for subversion of structural oppressions are observable in Wilmington’s UA, there are also possibilities for UA to augment existing inequalities. This thesis is comprised of two papers, in the form of Chapters 3 and 4, that address everyday experience of social justice through urban agriculture in Wilmington, Delaware. In Chapter Three, I argue that applying a (feminist) geopolitical framework into UA allows for an understanding of the different everyday lives and experiences of urban agriculture participants, which in turn influence how the wider network of UA organizations operates. In Chapter Four, I argue that issues of (in)visibility or (in)accessibility of UA sites impact participants’ perceptions of their social justice potential, which can be influential in the continued practice of UA as a site of social justice. Through my research I argue that an understanding of SJ orientated UA, and SJ more broadly, attuned to participants’ everyday experiences, worldviews, the sites in which they attempt to facilitate justice, and the relationships between these elements creates a more effective platform for scholars and activists to analyze, plan, and ultimately affect SJ.
Description
Keywords
Biological sciences, Social sciences, Access, Feminist geopolitics, Invisibility, Perceptions, Social justice, Urban agriculture