Agrarian crises and producerist populism in French rural unions

Limits and potential for an emancipatory rural politics

Bibliographic Data

ID21545127
AuthorsMaura Benegiamo (0000-0002-8917-5303), William Loveluck
Year2022
Issue162
Pages164-183
Publication date2022-03-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociologia del Lavoro (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0392-5048 • E-ISSN: 1972-554X
PublisherFranco Angeli (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.3280/sl2022-162008
OpenAlexW4225420359
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited21

The article examines the reactions of two important agricultural trade unions in France, the ?Confédération Paysanne and the Coordination Rurale, to the liberalisation and financialisation of the ?European Common Agricultural Policy. It highlights the adoption of a "producerist populism" approach ?focused on the role of transnational economic and financial elites in co-opting the state, reducing ?public aid and as the main driver of the economic crises experienced by French farmers. The article ?traces the manifestations of this approach in the claims and analyses of the two unions in the face of ?recent economic developments in the wheat and dairy sectors in France. It argues that the producerist understanding of the crises in agriculture leads these two farmers unions, from opposite political backgrounds, to develop common arguments, opening to strategic alliances. Finally, based on the current ?debate on authoritarian populism in rural areas, the article discusses the interest in overcoming these ?narratives in favour of a more emancipatory rural perspective

Agrarian society · Agriculture · Authoritarianism · Democracy · Economic system · Economics · Geography · Liberalization · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Populism · Social science · Sociology · Agriculture and Rural Development Research · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development · French Urban and Social Studies · Law

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