Agroecological Fair as a Differential Space: an Expression of Resistance

Abstract

Objective: From the perspective of agroecology, this study analyzes the arts of making as constituents of the fractures through which the agroecological fair emerges as a differential space. Theoretical Framework: It is argued that such a fair emerges in the abstract space due to the fracture caused in it by the incorporation of differences about the agroecological way of life, as a form of resistance to the logic of accumulation. The ways of being and existing others, materialized in the space of the agroecological fair, allow us to recognize it as an expression of dialectical resistance to the forces of homogenization. Method: This research was developed through an ethnography, in the period from 2022 to 2023, from the experience in 4 agroecological fairs, in which the corpus was built through narrative interviews carried out with 25 actors. And the data were organized according to the assumptions of Riessman (1993, 2008), using thematic narrative analysis. Results and Discussion: The findings reveal that the arts of making that mark the existence of the fair resist the logic of hegemonic production and consumption, opening fissures in the urban way of life, in front of which it emerges as a differential space. By resisting, the actors use their arts of making to establish their relational networks and thus produce spaces for valuing and rescuing individual and/or collective trajectories. Research Implications, Originality and Value: The contribution to the field of Organizational Studies lies in the theoretical debate elaborated in the periphery of academic studies, in which the arts of doing are formed by the knowledge of workers often ignored by the narratives of Administration.