People, power, change: three pillars of a food sovereignty research praxis

Abstract

This article is situated within nascent debates on the role of academics within food sovereignty movements. Drawing on insights from a collective autoethnography, we report on our experiences conducting three food sovereignty research projects in different contexts and at different scales. We suggest that that the principles and practices of food sovereignty translate into a food sovereignty research praxis. This consists of three pillars focusing on people (humanizing research relationships), power (equalizing power relations) and change (pursuing transformative orientations). This article discusses these pillars and analyzes the extent to which we were able to embody them within our projects.

Introduction to the symposium on critical adult education in food movements: learning for transformation in and beyond food movements—the why, where, how and the what next?

“…On the other hand, despite the many disincentives and pressures that undermine attempts to enable learning for transformation within formal education (Anderson 2019), there are impulses, actors and programs-often in the margins of academia-which are more closely aligned with social movements and the politics of collective transformation (see: Borras 2016; Levkoe et al 2018;Méndez et al 2015). These programs and people are guided by a commitment to community engaged learning and research, traditions of participatory action research, or more general commitments to the wellbeing of marginalised peoples in and beyond their locale.…”

Questioning the Impact of Impact: Evaluating Community-Campus Engagement as Contextual, Relational, and Process Based

“…For more information on the 12 CFS hub projects, see https://carleton.ca/communityfirst/sector-specific-work/community-food-security/. Also see Andrée et al, 2014;Andrée et al, 2016;Kepkiewicz et al, 2017;Levkoe et al, 2016;Levkoe, Brem-Wilson, & Anderson, 2019;Levkoe, Erlich, & Archibald, 2019. 4. Local Food Multipliers (Northern Ontario) worked with the Food Security Research Network (FSRN) at Lakehead University and the North Superior Workforce Planning Board to determine the workforce multiplier effects of local food production and processing.…”

Integrated Food Systems Governance: Scaling Equitable and Transformative Food Initiatives through Scholar-Activist Engagement

“…Beyond civil society, there is a growing awareness among policymakers that food systems developed from and shaped by the complex interactions between people, ecosystems, and social forces necessitate more joined-up and integrated governance responses. Similarly, food systems scholars increasingly engage in participatory action projects seeking to make productive linkages between academic research, policymakers, and community organizations in search of tangible food systems change (Anderson, Buchanan, Chang, Rodriguez, & Wakeford, 2017;Levkoe, Brem-Wilson, & Anderson, 2019;Reynolds, Block, & Bradley, 2018). Attempts at participatory and integrated food policy that engages these varied actors across food systems are not without their challenges.…”