Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: In her book La Démocratie aux Champs, French philosopher Joëlle Zask wishes to overturn the longstanding prejudice according to which democratic ideals essentially grow out of and thrive in big cities, and are antithetical to agricultural life.Whether in 19th century Europe or in contemporary United States, peasants are widely seen as conservative, bigoted and apolitical, while urban residents typically represent a more progressive and politically minded population.Against this view, but also against the alternative view of a romanticized and idyllic rural world, Zask defends the idea that the values and practices associated with democratic freedom "primarily come […] from the farm" (p. 7)."Farm" is to be understood broadly: the scope of her book is not restricted to the peasant lifeworld, but encompasses different kinds of agriculture, including urban community gardens. 2Zask is not the first one to defend such a view.Most of the empirical material used to support her philosophical arguments comes from existing historical and sociological studies describing democratic practices, experiences and modes of organization in collective farms, community gardens or peasants' political movements.The originality of Zask's book lies in the scope of her argument and in the use she makes of these local experiments to defend a more general claim about the nature of democracy.Already existing studies are most often published as articles and always focus on particular experiments (e.g., Jefferson's "ward republics," jardins ouvriers in 19th century France, New York City's community gardens).In contrast to these studies, Zask's book is the first extensive study that makes a general claim about the democratic benefits of growing and cultivating land, gathering and articulating these independent studies into a broader philosophical and political perspective.
DOI: 10.4000/ejpap.1413
Author: Céline Henne
Institution: Palais de la Decouverte
Language: French
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4236481671