The neo‐peasant movement in Catalonia: An attempt at defining it in the light of the infrapolitical strategies of resistance

Abstract

This article analyses everyday forms of resistance of theneo-peasants in Catalonia against the dominant legaland economic system. For the purpose of the analy-sis, neo-peasants are defined as social movement whoseactors share the same values reflected in the neo-peasantidentity and try to put into practice a peasant lifestyleand a peasant economy based on agriculture and ani-mal breeding. This article is based on the analysis ofthe ethnography of 26 initiatives that was carried outbetween 2016 and 2020. It examines the neo-peasantlifestyle as a form of infrapolitics–neo-peasants’ ‘a-legal’practices, such as pig slaughter or voluntary insolvency.These neo-peasant resistance strategies are the forms ofcoping with the current legal and economic context. Wepropose that infrapolitics is a mode of action that can beused to redefine what is considered a legitimate politicalspace and to build new spaces in which political agonismcan be manifested. Moreover, we argue that because ofthis particular function of neo-peasant infrapolitics, theycan be analysed using the New Social Movements theoryor a concept of the ‘hope movement’.