Caring for vineyards: Transforming farmer-vine relations and practices in viticulture French farms

Abstract

International audience"In the context of ecological crisis, agricultural issues become increasingly present in public debates and there is a call for to better understand the relations between farmers and nonhumans. Based on care theory and through an ethnographic study conducted on 20 winegrowers in Hérault (France), this article answers 3 questions: 1) How do farmers relate and care for nonhumans and the environment? 2) Do those relationships evolve? 3) How do farmer networks locally affect these relationships? The analysis shows: (1) that vine is the principle care-receiver in vineyards, but vinegrowers also form relationships with a diversity of other nonhuman entities; (2) that all those relationships can be transformed with increased attentiveness and experimental practices at the plot and edge scale of vineyards; and (3) that an increase in the observation and contemplation of nonhumans can develop through farmers' participation in different environmental programs. In conclusion, the article indicates the relevance of both the use of care theory in order to study the complexity of farmers’ relations with nonhumans, and the key-role of bottom-up collective initiatives among farmers in biodiversity conservation.