Abstract
This paper shares findings from an interdisciplinary research project funded by the UK Research and Innovation fund (UKRI). JUSTLANZ NI focuses on a case study at Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, the aim being to understand transition pathways to sustainable practices in food and farming systems (Elrick-Barr, Plummer and Smith, 2022; Martin-Ortega et al., 2024). Within a landscape of contested priorities, the research contributes to a nuanced understanding of net zero policy and how food and farming systems can adapt within different land use scenarios and modelling outcomes (Bishop et al., 2024). Rural social theories often explore the Bourdieusian-inspired concept of the good farmer identity, but this identity has traditionally celebrated productivism (Cusworth, Garnett and Lorimer, 2021) and created a negative association with sustainability practices (Hammersley et al., 2022). Assemblage theory can therefore provide a lens to interpret these complex dynamics within interdisciplinary methods to understand the tension between environmental justice and the social complexities of distributional justice (Levkoe and Wakefield, 2013; Kenter and O’Connor, 2022). By exploring the interactions between farmers, their social networks, nonhuman elements and broader environmental forces interviews within the landscape indicate new ways of working that farmers are adopting within their own communities (Sutherland et al., 2023; Gemtou et al., 2024). In this study, methods to assess adaptive capacity are informed by an interdisciplinary approach to prompt a re-think of the varied relationships which underpin the understanding of an assemblage within farmers’ social, economic and environmental values (Witinok-Huber et al., 2025).
Presenters
Lucy BeattieSocial Scientist in Sustainable Farming Systems, Social, Economic and Geographic Sciences, The James Hutton Institute, Highland, United Kingdom
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Interdisciplinary Research, Assemblage, Farming, Land Use, Adaptive Capacity
