THE SUBALTERN AND EMANCIPATORY TERRITORIALITIES PRODUCED BY CROFTERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM: AN ANALYSIS VIA THE SCOTTISH CROFTING FEDERATION (SCF) MOVEMENT

Abstract

The concept of food regimes connects the relations between food production and consumption on an international scale, at the same time, it differentiates the periods of capitalist accumulation, revealing the conflict between the development models and the power relations between the State, companies, peasants and other people and institutions. We understand that the dietary regimes analysis contributes to the understanding of production and transformations of territorialities, that is, of the uses of the territory, over time. Brazil and the United Kingdom have fulfilled/fulfill different roles in food regimes, implicating in different conflicts, disputes, social actors and, consecutively, territorialities. In this project we will study the territorialities produced by small farmers in the United Kingdom, identifying similarities and differences with the Brazilian case and, as well, in what way and to what degree these territorialities are subaltern or emancipatory. For such, we have chosen to work with crofters, defined as tenants and occupying proprietors who produce food, among other uses of the territory, in small agricultural units in the North of Scotland. We will work with crofters linked to the Scottish Crofting Federation (SCF), a socio-territorial movement that works to defend crofters' territories and rights, engaging with agencies and governments at various scales to interfere in rural development policy. To achieve our objective, we propose to carry out bibliographic research; fieldwork, in order to know the SCF's territories and organization, and research in the DATALUTA UK database, which allows us to access several news articles about the actions of socio-territorial movements, among them, the SCF.