Abstract
This article presents the contributions of Urban Agriculture practitioners in establishing the local food movement and the foundations of an active food democracy in London. It argues that food democracy is emerging from a set of contestations within institutional channels, but also through the historical struggle of formulating the dominating political discourses, both of which are co-constituted through specific social and political practices. Webster and Engberg-Pedersen’s political space framework (2002) breaks up this article in order to describe: 1) How specific institutional channels form different strategies of collaboration and contestation; 2) how these are reflected in political discourses evolution; and 3) what dilemmas and opportunities this evolution in practice entails in relation to responsibilisation and its influence on the possibility of establishing true active food democracy in London.
Highlights
The ‘food democracy’ concept was first coined by Lang (1998) and later expanded by Hassanein (2003) to argue that in their everyday lives people can and should be more actively participating in shaping the food system
The resurfacing of the food democracy concern in the late 1990s, became characterised by the opposition to a neo-liberal vision in which the market monopolises power with retailers acting as gatekeepers between supply and consumption, and an older welfarist and socialist perspective arguing that food systems should not be abandoned to the market but rather governed by more active political deliberations (Lang, 1998, p. 18)
Due to the heterogenous nature of on-the-ground realities behind the promotion of further food democracy in London, this article suggests that a layered framework of political space could help explain the complex and mutually constitutive mechanisms between institutional channels, and their specific political discourses and social/political practices
Summary
The ‘food democracy’ concept was first coined by Lang (1998) and later expanded by Hassanein (2003) to argue that in their everyday lives people can and should be more actively participating in shaping the food system. Due to the heterogenous nature of on-the-ground realities behind the promotion of further food democracy in London, this article suggests that a layered framework of political space could help explain the complex and mutually constitutive mechanisms between institutional channels, and their specific political discourses and social/political practices Overall, this analysis should contribute to precising the knowledge of how UA practitioners contest political space in order to set up a local food movement and the foundations of an active food democracy. After presenting our methodology (Section 2), this article will focus on institutional channels as spaces that allow and shape different strategies of participation and contestation for food democracy by UA practitioners (Section 3) It will present some of the main political discourses which historically articulated different conceptions of UA to contextualise the evolution of the struggle for this second dimension of political space. The last part will explore the dilemmas and opportunities behind this change in practices following the evolution of channels and discourses, especially the debates between mainstreaming or losing transformative potential, the opportunities offered by State withdrawal and responsibilisation approaches versus system-based directions (Section 5)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
