In person icon Food Sustainability and Activism

Abstract

Food activism has become a key arena for political participation and grassroots mobilization, tackling critical issues such as food sovereignty, ecological justice, and the socio-environmental impacts of agrifood systems. The contributions in this panel focus on how various actors—ranging from grassroots movements and food cooperatives to trade unions and institutional stakeholders—organize and mobilize around food justice and agroecology, engaging in collective action that seeks to transform both local practices and broader system dynamics. The panel explores the strategies, practices, and repertoires of action within food movements; the creation and maintenance of alliances among diverse actors; and the role of deliberative and participatory processes in shaping food system transformations. It also addresses the negotiation of tensions and conflicts that arise in these processes, as well as the ways in which food-related struggles contribute to the formation of collective identities and new democratic practices. Bringing together diverse empirical cases and methodological approaches, including participatory research, qualitative analysis, and network perspectives, the panel offers a multifaceted understanding of food activism as a site of democratic innovation and ecological transformation.

Title	Details
Civil Society and Institutional Actors: Mobilizing Conflicts and Engaging in Food System Transformations	View Paper Details
Deliberative Views and Practices About Food: Assessing the Potential for a More Sustainable Democratic Governance of Food Systems	View Paper Details
The Local Food System in Bologna: Between Latent Conflicts and Evolving Democratic Practices	View Paper Details
Collaborative Networks and Change Orientation in Local Agrifood Fields: Insights from Bologna’s Food System	View Paper Details