Motivations for Investing in Allotment Gardening in Dublin: A Sociological Analysis

Abstract

In recent years, Dublin has witnessed a demonstrable rise in urban agriculture (UA) initiatives. Allotments and community gardens are emerging in abundance in the city and on its perimeter. Traditionally, allotments were associated with older men and lower socio-economic groups. However, recent practices indicate a significant shift in the traditional demographics engaging in practice. Those investing are increasingly younger, from the middle classes, and include more and more women. But what is motivating practice? What has caused this shift? And why are professionals in an advanced capitalist society choosing to cultivate food in and around the contemporary urban metropolis? Drawing on empirical investigations in Dublin between 2011 and 2013, this article argues that the revival of the urban allotment in Dublin after many years of abeyance represents a form of resistance to the dis-embedding processes associated with late and post modernity, and an explicit attempt by urban dwellers to (re)connect with traditional forms of knowledge, the land, and practice (food production systems), but primarily to (re)connect with others, to generate a sense of community, and to restore a sense of belonging in the city.