Urban food activism collective

a case of study of motivations, challenges and limits of collective action

Abstract

As a contribution to the understanding of collective actions in the contemporary scenario, this article presents the case study of a food activism collective formed by urban consumers, which existed between 2015 and 2017. The objectives of this article are to identify their practices, challenges, limits and motivations for participation and to understand what this informs about the possibilities of action by small urban collectives in transforming the relationships between urban and rural subjects and their spatial dynamics. Data were collected through interviews with members and analysis of documents produced by the collective. It was observed that there was an effective rapprochement between urban consumers and farmers, reducing distances and enabling face-to-face relationships, in spaces of fair trade and dialogue. It was found that decisions about participation mix personal and political motivations. Horizontality, which is a typical characteristic of collectives, was perceived by participants as both a source of experience gains for democratic participation and as a limit to decision-making on the direction of collective action. The permanence of the collective proved to be the greatest challenge, raising questions about the ephemerality of collectives.