Editor’s choice
Editor’s choice
This article reviews a book by Claire Nettle that explores whether community gardens can be considered part of social movement activity, with a focus on Australia.
Nettle uses a variety of methods to explore the role of community gardeners in achieving social change and, for readers unfamiliar with social movement theory, helpfully provides some definitions before assessing the extent to which community gardens fit the criteria of social movements.
The book’s overall argument is that community gardening is not just a leisure activity but can be a form of local activism, as a means of reclaiming private space for public use, of improving urban environments, or contributing to food security. The reviewer finds some of these arguments are more convincing than others. In particular, the discussion about how community gardening contributes to food security is deemed to be weak.
Read the article (external link to journal)
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