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Accepted Paper:

Political resistance through Neo-rural (im)mobilities? A case study from Catalonia  
Paula Escribano (University of Barcelona) Agata Hummel (University of Warsaw) Marisol Rojas (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona)

Paper short abstract:

The influence of the neo-rural political imaginary and (im)mobility practices on the rural area will be explored through an ethnographic case in Catalonia, and the effects of the rural social context and of public policies on the life project of the neo-rurals will be investigated.

Paper long abstract:

The Neo-rural phenomenon refers to a variety of contemporary mobilities from the city to the countryside. Within this range, we point out to a specific type of neo-rurals: those with roots in the back-to-the-land phenomenon led by young urban people who seek an alternative way of life in rural areas (Nogue, 2012).

We would like to present an ethnographic case of the Eco-Community in Catalonia (Spain) founded in 2014. It is located in a rural area two kilometres away from a village of 5000 habitants. According to the community members, the purpose of moving from the city to the Eco-community was to "disseminate principles and practices for the construction of a new society". We would like to analyse the imaginary and aspirations of the members of the current community before and during the mobility, and their (im)mobility practices in order to meet their goals. We want to find out what the impact of the community on the surrounding rural area is, how the rural area affects the shape that community, and what the adaptation practices are applied by the members of the Eco-community in order to cope with public policies of the rural area.

Panel P146
Moving from, moving to, moving in the countryside: ethnographic perspectives on rural mobilities [SIEF panel]
  Session 1 Thursday 16 August, 2018, -