Guerrilla gardening, resistance and public space

Adams, D, Adams, M and Hardman, M ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4282-0766 2021, 'Guerrilla gardening, resistance and public space' , in: Militantismes et potagers (Activists and vegetable gardens) , Environnement et société , Presses Universitaires du Septentrion. (In Press)

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Abstract

There is a small but emerging area of research that explores the impact of ‘guerrilla gardening’, an activity which involves actors occupying land, often in the public realm, without permission. Whilst several recent studies have charted the impact of guerrilla gardening, a theme running through some of this work relates to how the activity is represented as being an exciting and largely positive way for (almost exclusively young) organized groups to explore, inhabit and rescue certain neglected or under-used sites from those dominant forces that control certain urban spaces. Encouraged by other recent studies that explore transgressive urban practices in public spaces, this paper begins by arguing that the overly-resistant representation of guerrilla gardening is founded on an abstracted interpretation of the activity removed from the micro-politics of guerrilla gardening activity. To partially address this position, therefore, this ethnographic data is drawn from a group of UK guerrilla gardeners (F Troop) to highlight the motivations, social interactions of the guerrillas, and the relationship guerrilla gardeners have with the different ‘guardians’ of an area being transformed through gardening activity. This data is then used to demonstrate how guerrilla gardening clashes with, but also conforms to, ‘authoritarian’ forms of power. Ultimately, the paper suggests that paying attention to the micro-politics of guerrilla gardening connects to ongoing work in parts of the social sciences that calls for fresh insights into how different individuals and groups inscribe particular urban spaces with meaning in ways that escape traditional forms of representation.

Item Type:	Book Section
Editors:	Glatron, S and Granchamp, L
Schools:	Schools > School of Environment and Life Sciences > Ecosystems and Environment Research Centre
Journal or Publication Title:	Environnement et société
Publisher:	Presses Universitaires du Septentrion
Series Name:	Environnement et société
ISBN:	9782757435137 (paperback)
ISSN:	1771-6152
Depositing User:	M Hardman
Date Deposited:	12 Jul 2021 15:08
Last Modified:	12 Jul 2021 15:15
URI:	http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/61174

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