Political engagement in urban agriculture: power to act in community gardens of São Paulo

Participación política en la agricultura urbana: poder de actuar en huertos comunitarios en São Paulo

Abstract

In the municipality of São Paulo, the institution of community gardens has led an innovative social process of self-management of public spaces by citizens, using social networks to organize interventions in an activist way. The research sought to investigate political engagement in community gardens in São Paulo, bringing a perspective based on the concepts of power to act, present in Espinosa’s philosophy, and of commons, based on the work of Dardot and Laval (2017). The methodology consists of an ethnography based on semi-structured interviews and participant observation in community garden joint-efforts, meetings and events. In these meetings, it is possible to consider that there are affections empowering the subjects to engage in significant changes for territorial management, enabling the formation of an expanded collective of action that establishes unique forms of management confronting institutional powers.

Keywords:
Urban agriculture; Community gardens; Political engagement; Power to act; Commons