Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement: Reflections on White’s \u3ci\u3eFreedom Farmers\u3c/i\u3e

First paragraphs: Landmark: 1. An object or feature of a landscape . . . that is easily seen and recognized from a distance, especially one that enables someone to establish their location. Synonyms: mark, indicator, guiding light, signal, beacon, lodestar. 2. An event or discovery marking an important stage or turning point in something. Synonyms: milestone, watershed . . . major achievement. (“Landmark,” n.d., para. 1 & 4) Dr. Monica White’s Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement stands literally as a landmark, ushering in a new era of community-based scholarship with and for agrarian justice. From here on out, scholars, activists, practitioners have a lodestar from which to research, practice, and advocate for food, farm, and racial justice: Dr. White’s framework of “collective agency and com­munity resilience” (CACR). Food studies scholars from across and beyond academic disciplines are in strong consensus as to the importance of this pivotal book—a manuscript that draws upon and advances rural sociology, history, agri-food studies, Black history, cooperative economics, and more. In this set of reflections on Freedom Farmers, McCutcheon lauds how the work is a “love letter” to past, present, and future Black farmers, and the powerful pedagogical potential of such celebration. Reese recounts how the book excavates the erased histories of Black women leaders and farmers, showing us how to “re/see the world” through this powerful lens. Babb calls the text a gift that “flips the script” to provide informative and inspirational narratives of food justice and food sovereignty in action. Hall commends how the book “pushes us to participate in the remaking of our communities with honesty, resilience, solidarity, and love.” Sarmiento notes how, even as the book critiques structural racism, it offers a generous, affirmative vision of resistance and agency. Wilson concurs that the book opens radical possibilities for hope, particularly in the classroom. I would also point readers to Cynthia Greenlee’s (2018) Civil Eats interview with Dr. White, which highlights how the book sheds light on the over­looked role of Black farmers in the Civil Rights movement, resurgence of Black agriculture and scholarship on it, and the ongoing necessity of affirming collective agency in the fight against racism at large..

Call for reimagining institutional support for PAR post-COVID

Although we believe academic researchers have a critical role to play in transformative systems change for social and ecological justice, we also argue that academic institutions have been (and continue to be) complicit in colonialism and in racialized, patriarchal capitalism. In this essay, we argue that if academia is to play a constructive role in supporting social and ecological resilience in the late stage Capitalocene epoch, we must move beyond mere critique to enact reimagined and decolonized forms of knowledge production, sovereignty, and structures for academic integrity. We use the pandemic as a moment of crisis to rethink what we are doing as PAR scholars and reflect on our experiences conducting PAR during the pandemic. A framework is presented for the reimaging of institutional support for the embedding of scholars in local social systems. We propose an academy with greater flexibility and consideration for PAR, one with increased funding support for community projects and community engagement offices, and a system that puts local communities first. This reimagining is followed by a set of our accounts of conducting PAR during the pandemic. Each account begins with an author's reflection on their experiences conducting PAR during the pandemic, focusing on how the current university system magnified the impacts of the pandemic. The author's reflection is then followed with a “what if” scenario were the university system changed in such a way that it mitigated or lessened the impacts of the pandemic on conducting PAR. Although this framework for a reimagined university is not a panacea, the reliance on strong in-place local teams, mutually benefiting research processes, and resources for community organizations putting in the time to collaborate with scholars can overcome many of the challenges presented by the pandemic and future crises

Corrigendum: Displacement of the scholar? Participatory action research under COVID-19

The impact of COVID-19 on conducting research is far-reaching, especially for those scholars working for or alongside communities. As the pandemic continues to create and exacerbate many of the issues that communities at the margins faced pre-pandemic, such as health disparities and access to resources, it also creates particular difficulties in collaborative, co-developed participatory research and scholar-activism. These forms of community engagement require the commitment of researchers to look beyond the purview of the racialized capitalist and neoliberal structures and institutions that tend to limit the scope of our research and engagement. Both the presence of the researcher within the community as well as deep community trust in the researcher is required in order to identify and prioritize local, often counter-hegemonic forms of knowledge production, resources, and support networks. The pandemic and similar conditions of crises has likely limited opportunities for building long-term, productive relationships of mutual trust and reciprocity needed for PAR while communities refocus on meeting basic needs. The pandemic has now not only exacerbated existing disparities and made the need for engaged, critical and co-creative partnerships even greater, it has also abruptly halted opportunities for partnerships to occur, and further constrained funds to support communities partnering with researchers. In this paper we highlight accomplishments and discuss the many challenges that arise as participatory action researchers are displaced from the field and classroom, such as funding obstacles and working remotely. An analysis of experiences of the displacement of the scholar exposes the conflicts of conducting PAR during crises within a state of academic capitalism. These experiences are drawn from our work conducting PAR during COVID-19 around the globe, both in urban and rural settings, and during different stages of engagement. From these findings the case is made for mutual learning from peer-experiences and institutional support for PAR. As future crises are expected, increased digital resources and infrastructure, academic flexibility and greater consideration of PAR, increased funding for PAR, and dedicated institutional support programs for PAR are needed

Data & the Seed: From Extractive Epistemology to Emancipating Agrobiodiversity Research Methods

This article emerges from a collaborative, cross-regional project to imagine and embody emancipatory research methods for agrobiodiversity practice and policy. The goal of emancipatory research–counteracting projects that extract data and time from communities–is intentionally aspirational. We analyze practices of extractive research and data collection and how it has shaped current agrobiodiversity research and governance. We argue that egalitarian research is needed for equitable policies, practices, and governance. Thus, we ask: What would this entail methodologically? What role does data—both as process and product—play in fostering either emancipatory or extractive outcomes, particularly in the context of agrobiodiversity research? By dialoguing with methods of community-based, practitioner-led, and decolonial research, this essay centers opportunities and pathways to advance more egalitarian, democratic, and emancipatory research and governance methodologies. We center the case of our own multi-year grant pursuit with community-leaders and practitioners across the Appalachian US, Yucatan Mexico, and Andean Peru, to detail challenges and outcomes for potential egalitarian research processes and goals related to agrobiodiversity scholarship and governance

New opportunities, new challenges: Harnessing Cuba’s advances in agroecology and sustainable agriculture in the context of changing relations with the United States

Cuba’s transition to agroecology is perhaps as widely known as it is misunderstood. In response to the economic crisis of the early 1990s, the Cuban agricultural sector largely departed from the industrial model of food production that it had previously pursued. The subsequent transition towards an agroecological model has been a dynamic and uneven process, elevating Cuba on the world stage as a global leader in sustainable agriculture while at the same time producing unique challenges for Cuban farmers, policy makers, researchers and academics. This article synthesizes and updates contemporary literature on the Cuban agricultural system, paying attention to both successes and shortcomings of agroecology in Cuba to date. In particular, it situates these literatures alongside contributions from academics and practitioners alike, bringing a number of data sets, experiences, and perspectives into conversation in the context of changing realities within Cuba and the nation’s evolving geopolitical relationship with the United States. By analyzing both the historical and contemporary processes through which agroecology has taken root in Cuba, we demonstrate that, despite its uneven and incomplete implementation, such a sustainable agroecological transition holds great, untapped potential. Agroecology in Cuba currently faces pressure from normalizing Cuba-US relations, with potentially profound implications for agriculture in both countries. But increasing opportunities are also emerging for investment, collaboration, knowledge exchange, and solidarity. In this paper, we provide an overview of the evolution of the Cuban agroecology movement; analyze the state of food security and challenges to food sovereignty on the island today; outline US-Cuba policy changes occurring since December 2014 that may affect the agrifood sector; and conclude with recommendations for supporting agroecology – for food security, food sovereignty, and sustainability – under this new and evolving relationship. 'Please refer to Supplementary Materials', DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.337.s1, 'for a full text Spanish version of this article'.   La transición agroecológica cubana es quizás tan ampliamente conocida como malentendida. Como respuesta a la crisis económica a principio de los 90, el sector agropecuario cubano se apartó en gran medida del modelo industrial de producción alimentaria que anteriormente había perseguido. La transición posterior hacia un modelo agroecológico ha sido un proceso dinámico y heterogéneo, que 1) ha convertido a Cuba en líder en el desarrollo de una agricultura sostenible a escala global y que, al mismo tiempo, 2) ha producido una variedad de desafíos inéditos para agricultores, decisores políticos, investigadores y académicos cubanos. Este artículo busca sintetizar y actualizar la literatura contemporánea sobre el sistema agrícola cubano, prestando atención tanto a los éxitos como a las debilidades de la agroecología en Cuba hasta la fecha. En particular, sitúa esta literatura a la par de los aportes de académicos, técnicos y agricultores, aportando una diversidad de datos, experiencias y perspectivas a la discusión, en un contexto cambiante tanto dentro de Cuba, como en las relaciones geopolíticas con los Estados Unidos. Partiendo del análisis de los procesos, tanto históricos como actuales, a través de los cuales la agroecología se ha enraizado en Cuba, este artículo muestra que, a pesar de su implementación desigual y aún no completa, la transición agroecológica sostenible en Cuba tiene un gran potencial por explotar. Si bien actualmente la agroecología cubana enfrenta la presión de la normalización de las relaciones Cuba-Estados Unidos, con implicaciones potencialmente profundas para la agricultura en ambos países, también puede beneficiarse de oportunidades cada vez más emergentes para la inversión, la colaboración y la solidaridad. En este artículo, proporcionamos una visión general de la evolución del movimiento agroecológico cubano; analizamos el estado de la seguridad alimentaria y los retos de la soberanía alimentaria en la isla hoy; resumimos los cambios en la política Estados Unidos-Cuba desde diciembre del 2014 que pueden afectar al sector agroalimentario; y concluimos con recomendaciones para apoyar la agroecología (para la seguridad y soberanía alimentaria y la sustentabilidad) bajo esta nueva y cambiante relación. 'La versión en español de este artículo se puede encontrar en Materiales Suplementarias', DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.337.s1