Abstract
The paper focuses on small farming communities in the Global South, arguing that, amongst the overlooked aspects of farmers’ sustainability, are communication, representation, and recognition. Farmers’ representation and recognition have been explicitly linked to sustainable development by contributing to a sense of personal and social identity that is critical for their capacity to continue their organic and indigenous farming practices and protect biodiversity. Studies have shown that although farmers value their personal skills for environmental sustainability, they also consider themselves non-recognised by society due to social status inequalities. In this paper, I draw on qualitative and ethnographic research with two farming communities in South India and Mexico. Focusing on farmers’ engagement with communication practices and technologies, such as participatory video, interpersonal communication, and mobile phones, I demonstrate how farmers develop localised, practical, and emotion-focused coping mechanisms to navigate economic, environmental, and social challenges, including social misrecognition. Such mechanisms include knowledge exchange through self-made videos and screening events that help raise awareness about the ecological benefits of organic farming. The paper also demonstrates how the same communication practices reveal status injustices and farmers’ struggles for recognition and more equitable spaces of engagement within their own community and in their relationships with foreign buyers, highlighting deeper challenges to sustainability, such as colonialism. In essence, the paper argues that a focus on communication, representation and recognition shifts the frame towards the need for more complex thinking about sustainable development, with greater emphasis on the voice and agency of communities in the Global South.
Presenters
Maria TouriAssociate Professor, School of Arts, Media and Communication, University of Leicester, United Kingdom
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2026 Special Focus—Unseen Unsustainability: Addressing Hidden Risks to Long-Term Wellbeing for All
KEYWORDS
Social Sustainability, Communication Technologies, Representation, Recognition, Participatory Video, Mobile Phones
