“It feels regenerative”
An affective atmosphere of soil care in vegetable gardening
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24228345 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Michiel van de Pavert (0000-0003-0973-7810), Jessica Duncan (0000-0003-0511-0068), David Ludwig (0000-0002-2010-5120) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 43 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Publication date | 2026-10-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Agriculture and Human Values (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0889-048X • E-ISSN: 1572-8366 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s10460-026-10973-8 |
| OpenAlex | W7215078204 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 47 |
Soils are on the political agenda, recognized as central actors for agricultural transitions. At the same time, soils are often difficult for humans to relate to. This paradox—soil as central to sustainability but distant to most humans—motivates the question: what regenerative soil relations emerge from the practice of soil care in vegetable gardening? To answer this, our study draws from twelve months of ethnographic fieldwork at two vegetable gardens in Luxembourg to elaborate on the affective dimension of soil care. The prolonged engagement allows for an analysis of the caring practices and the collective affective relations that emerge from them. Gardeners enact respect for the soil through their practices to create the conditions for soil life to flourish. In addition, collective dynamics can create a vibrant and uplifting affective atmosphere. Rather than igniting passion for soils in individuals, we argue that the paradox of soil relations is best addressed collectively, by nurturing practices of respect and immersions in an affective atmosphere. It is crucial to move beyond individual responsibility for the agricultural transitions and to engage people affectively through collective forms of participation.
affective bonds · agricultural transformation · regenerative agriculture · Soil biology · soil care · vegetable gardening · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development · Posthumanist Ethics and Activism · Urban Agriculture and Sustainability
Autoethnography
Human preferences for species conservation
What Is Regenerative Agriculture? A Review of Scholar and Practitioner Definitions Based on Processes and Outcomes
Affective Arrangements
Plant blindness and the implications for plant conservation
The Ethics of Care
Participant Observation
Participant Observation
A relational turn for sustainability science? Relational thinking, leverage points and transformations
Indigenous relationality
Indigenous and local knowledge in sustainability transformations research
Caring for nature matters
Caring in crises – Unsettling care in soil carbon sequestration
Regenerative agriculture and a more-than-human ethic of care
Affect and biopower
Introducing the concept of tactile space
Affective atmospheres
Rethinking affective atmospheres
Affect and Emotion
The co-optation of regenerative agriculture
Caring for soil life in the Anthropocene
Unsettling care
What Farmers Know
Nonhuman Charisma
You can't manage what you can't measure
Hocus pocus? Spirituality and soil care in biodynamic agriculture
Farming from a Process-Relational Perspective
Questioning care cultivated through connecting with more-than-human communities
Re-animating soils
Nothing Comes Without Its World
Healing, knowing, enduring
What is relationality? Indigenous knowledges, practices and responsibilities with kin
The affective atmospheres of nationalism
A social relational account of affect
Relational ethnography
| Highly cited | No |
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