No Cover Image

Journal article 359 views 50 downloads

Local food and the nomadic ethical placemaking of the rural idyll: Towards a non-anthropocentric ‘rural of the future’

Alessandro Graciotti Orcid Logo

Journal of Rural Studies, Volume: 121, Start page: 103911

Swansea University Author: Alessandro Graciotti Orcid Logo

  • 70615.VOR.pdf

    PDF | Version of Record

    © 2025 The Author. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY license.

    Download (736.12KB)

Check full text

DOI (Published version): 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103911

Abstract

The rural idyll is a geographical imagination envisioning a utopian escape from urban modernity and industrial values. However, this imaginary typically serves anthropocentric, neoliberal market logics, which landscape the rural as other. Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) may navigate this tension wh...

Full description

Published in: Journal of Rural Studies
ISSN: 0743-0167 1873-1392
Published: Elsevier BV 2026
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70615
first_indexed 2025-10-08T14:53:56Z
last_indexed 2025-10-10T21:32:54Z
id cronfa70615
recordtype SURis
fullrecord <?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2025-10-09T10:32:00.1647856</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>70615</id><entry>2025-10-08</entry><title>Local food and the nomadic ethical placemaking of the rural idyll: Towards a non-anthropocentric &#x2018;rural of the future&#x2019;</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>042bd992084aab82b59805a583a85bc3</sid><ORCID>0000-0003-0730-5176</ORCID><firstname>Alessandro</firstname><surname>Graciotti</surname><name>Alessandro Graciotti</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2025-10-08</date><deptcode>CBAE</deptcode><abstract>The rural idyll is a geographical imagination envisioning a utopian escape from urban modernity and industrial values. However, this imaginary typically serves anthropocentric, neoliberal market logics, which landscape the rural as other. Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) may navigate this tension when committing to the ethico-political relocalisation of food systems. Drawing on Braidotti's nomadic ethics, this study develops a non-anthropocentric (new materialist and posthuman) understanding of the rural idyll, grounded in the narratives of local food consumers participating in AFNs in the Italian region of Marche. Based on 20 in-depth interviews, this research explores how participants' narratives can express a life-affirming desire that (re)configures the rural idyll as a not-yet-sustained condition of more-than-human rural spatial assemblages, providing a counter-point to the negative realities presently landscaping non-human nature as other. Findings show that these narratives contribute to the nomadic ethical placemaking of a non-anthropocentric rural idyll &#x2013; a virtuality foregrounding a &#x2018;rural of the future&#x2019; committed to fostering human and non-human intra-actions based on the ontological dissolution of the human subject in rural space. This process repositions non-human life discourse as ethico-politically central in agri-food practices and fosters a non-linear, inclusive reinterpretation of local food autochthony. Thus, this study contributes to food geographies and rural studies by showing how AFN-driven local food consumption can help overturn anthropocentric rural landscaping by positioning a non-anthropocentric idyllic image of non-human nature as a harbinger of alternative patterns of becoming, thereby opening up a novel, nomadic ethical understanding of placemaking possible rural futures.</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>Journal of Rural Studies</journal><volume>121</volume><journalNumber/><paginationStart>103911</paginationStart><paginationEnd/><publisher>Elsevier BV</publisher><placeOfPublication/><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint>0743-0167</issnPrint><issnElectronic>1873-1392</issnElectronic><keywords>Nomadic ethics; Rural idyll; Local food; Ethical placemaking; New materialism; Posthumanism</keywords><publishedDay>1</publishedDay><publishedMonth>1</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2026</publishedYear><publishedDate>2026-01-01</publishedDate><doi>10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103911</doi><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>Management School</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><DepartmentCode>CBAE</DepartmentCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm>SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal)</apcterm><funders>Regione Marche &#x2013; Programma Operativo Regionale (POR) Marche Fondo Sociale Europeo (FSE) 2014/2020. Progetto &#x201C;Dottorato Innovativo&#x201D; &#x2013; Borse di studio per dottorato di ricerca per l'innovazione del sistema regionale.</funders><projectreference/><lastEdited>2025-10-09T10:32:00.1647856</lastEdited><Created>2025-10-08T15:50:34.1203156</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences</level><level id="2">School of Management - Marketing</level></path><authors><author><firstname>Alessandro</firstname><surname>Graciotti</surname><orcid>0000-0003-0730-5176</orcid><order>1</order></author></authors><documents><document><filename>70615__35284__56b52e5fcffc4c87ad5c7cec1f7bc7f0.pdf</filename><originalFilename>70615.VOR.pdf</originalFilename><uploaded>2025-10-09T10:28:06.5728406</uploaded><type>Output</type><contentLength>753783</contentLength><contentType>application/pdf</contentType><version>Version of Record</version><cronfaStatus>true</cronfaStatus><documentNotes>&#xA9; 2025 The Author. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY license.</documentNotes><copyrightCorrect>true</copyrightCorrect><language>eng</language><licence>http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</licence></document></documents><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling 2025-10-09T10:32:00.1647856 v2 70615 2025-10-08 Local food and the nomadic ethical placemaking of the rural idyll: Towards a non-anthropocentric ‘rural of the future’ 042bd992084aab82b59805a583a85bc3 0000-0003-0730-5176 Alessandro Graciotti Alessandro Graciotti true false 2025-10-08 CBAE The rural idyll is a geographical imagination envisioning a utopian escape from urban modernity and industrial values. However, this imaginary typically serves anthropocentric, neoliberal market logics, which landscape the rural as other. Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) may navigate this tension when committing to the ethico-political relocalisation of food systems. Drawing on Braidotti's nomadic ethics, this study develops a non-anthropocentric (new materialist and posthuman) understanding of the rural idyll, grounded in the narratives of local food consumers participating in AFNs in the Italian region of Marche. Based on 20 in-depth interviews, this research explores how participants' narratives can express a life-affirming desire that (re)configures the rural idyll as a not-yet-sustained condition of more-than-human rural spatial assemblages, providing a counter-point to the negative realities presently landscaping non-human nature as other. Findings show that these narratives contribute to the nomadic ethical placemaking of a non-anthropocentric rural idyll – a virtuality foregrounding a ‘rural of the future’ committed to fostering human and non-human intra-actions based on the ontological dissolution of the human subject in rural space. This process repositions non-human life discourse as ethico-politically central in agri-food practices and fosters a non-linear, inclusive reinterpretation of local food autochthony. Thus, this study contributes to food geographies and rural studies by showing how AFN-driven local food consumption can help overturn anthropocentric rural landscaping by positioning a non-anthropocentric idyllic image of non-human nature as a harbinger of alternative patterns of becoming, thereby opening up a novel, nomadic ethical understanding of placemaking possible rural futures. Journal Article Journal of Rural Studies 121 103911 Elsevier BV 0743-0167 1873-1392 Nomadic ethics; Rural idyll; Local food; Ethical placemaking; New materialism; Posthumanism 1 1 2026 2026-01-01 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103911 COLLEGE NANME Management School COLLEGE CODE CBAE Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) Regione Marche – Programma Operativo Regionale (POR) Marche Fondo Sociale Europeo (FSE) 2014/2020. Progetto “Dottorato Innovativo” – Borse di studio per dottorato di ricerca per l'innovazione del sistema regionale. 2025-10-09T10:32:00.1647856 2025-10-08T15:50:34.1203156 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Management - Marketing Alessandro Graciotti 0000-0003-0730-5176 1 70615__35284__56b52e5fcffc4c87ad5c7cec1f7bc7f0.pdf 70615.VOR.pdf 2025-10-09T10:28:06.5728406 Output 753783 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 The Author. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY license. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Local food and the nomadic ethical placemaking of the rural idyll: Towards a non-anthropocentric ‘rural of the future’
spellingShingle Local food and the nomadic ethical placemaking of the rural idyll: Towards a non-anthropocentric ‘rural of the future’
Alessandro Graciotti
title_short Local food and the nomadic ethical placemaking of the rural idyll: Towards a non-anthropocentric ‘rural of the future’
title_full Local food and the nomadic ethical placemaking of the rural idyll: Towards a non-anthropocentric ‘rural of the future’
title_fullStr Local food and the nomadic ethical placemaking of the rural idyll: Towards a non-anthropocentric ‘rural of the future’
title_full_unstemmed Local food and the nomadic ethical placemaking of the rural idyll: Towards a non-anthropocentric ‘rural of the future’
title_sort Local food and the nomadic ethical placemaking of the rural idyll: Towards a non-anthropocentric ‘rural of the future’
author_id_str_mv 042bd992084aab82b59805a583a85bc3
author_id_fullname_str_mv 042bd992084aab82b59805a583a85bc3_***_Alessandro Graciotti
author Alessandro Graciotti
author2 Alessandro Graciotti
format Journal article
container_title Journal of Rural Studies
container_volume 121
container_start_page 103911
publishDate 2026
institution Swansea University
issn 0743-0167
1873-1392
doi_str_mv 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103911
publisher Elsevier BV
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Management - Marketing{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Management - Marketing
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description The rural idyll is a geographical imagination envisioning a utopian escape from urban modernity and industrial values. However, this imaginary typically serves anthropocentric, neoliberal market logics, which landscape the rural as other. Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) may navigate this tension when committing to the ethico-political relocalisation of food systems. Drawing on Braidotti's nomadic ethics, this study develops a non-anthropocentric (new materialist and posthuman) understanding of the rural idyll, grounded in the narratives of local food consumers participating in AFNs in the Italian region of Marche. Based on 20 in-depth interviews, this research explores how participants' narratives can express a life-affirming desire that (re)configures the rural idyll as a not-yet-sustained condition of more-than-human rural spatial assemblages, providing a counter-point to the negative realities presently landscaping non-human nature as other. Findings show that these narratives contribute to the nomadic ethical placemaking of a non-anthropocentric rural idyll – a virtuality foregrounding a ‘rural of the future’ committed to fostering human and non-human intra-actions based on the ontological dissolution of the human subject in rural space. This process repositions non-human life discourse as ethico-politically central in agri-food practices and fosters a non-linear, inclusive reinterpretation of local food autochthony. Thus, this study contributes to food geographies and rural studies by showing how AFN-driven local food consumption can help overturn anthropocentric rural landscaping by positioning a non-anthropocentric idyllic image of non-human nature as a harbinger of alternative patterns of becoming, thereby opening up a novel, nomadic ethical understanding of placemaking possible rural futures.
published_date 2026-01-01T05:31:15Z
_version_ 1851098058364813312
score 11.444473

Similar Items