Date:
3 Marzo, 2018
Abstract:
Teaching Exchange 2, March 20th and 21sth, 14:30-17:45, Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Umultowska 89D (Campus Morasko), Poznań
Paula Escribano, Autonomous University of Barcelona
Understanding the neo-rural phenomenon in Western Societies: a case study of Environmental Intentional Communities in Catalonia
The aim of the course is to introduce students to neo-rural research, a complex social phenomenon in Western Societies. Drawing on historical perspective we follow Nogue I Font (1998, 2012) conceptualization of neo-ruralism as “the back-to-the-land trend that took place in Europe and North America during the 1960s and 1970s, led by young urban people seeking an alternative way of life in rural areas” (ibid, 2012:29). Nowadays, this phenomenon is of renewed importance regarding socio-geographical variations and economic and cultural context of 21st century. The course also inquiries about the personal dimensions of the back-to-the-land mobility as personal motivations (Kirby, 2003; Escribano, 2017), or environmentalism values (Dunlap, 2006). The students will be briefed on the current anthropological fieldwork in EICs in Catalonia. Using theories coming from economic anthropology (subsistence and social reproduction) we analyse the relevance of theoretical concepts such as “informal economy” (Willis & Campbell, 2004) and “market economy” (Andreas, 2013) in order to reach a better understanding of this multidimensional phenomenon.