Degrowth Rural Futures
Reclaiming the agrarian in the socio-ecological struggle
By Donatella Gasparro
After “Policies for Degrowth”, the second Deep Dive we are offering is “Degrowth Rural Futures: Reclaiming the agrarian in the socio-ecological struggle”, taught by Donatella Gasparro, with classes of 2.5 hours on selected Tuesdays starting on September 22nd till November 3rd, from 5pm to 7.30pm.
Course format
The Deep Dive at a glance
Rurality and agrarian liveworlds have long been relegated to being a resedue of the past, a stronghold of conservativisim and a symbol of unbearable toiling. Yet in any desirable degrowth future – in which the environment is thriving and work is justly redistributed – rural space and agrarian lifeworlds are an indispensable ingredient of the struggle, and the material substrate for socio-ecologically sound societies in balance with their ecosystems.
This course sketches an ambitious journey across degrowth-aligned disciplines, movements and visions that together rethink, resignify and relaunch the rural as key in shaping desirable futures, with a focus on European countrysides. With the intent of rescuing rurality from its past-offworld relegation, we will draw on critical rural geography, political agroecology, critical agrarian studies, eco-marxism, materialist ecofeminism, and rural social movements to rethink rural space, people and livelihoods as active and indispensable agents in making the degrowth future we wish for.
Requirements
Knowledge of degrowth theoretical foundations; acquaintance with political ecology; an interest in rural areas, agriculture, and land.
For an overall introduction to degrowth, check our course “Introduction to degrowth” on our webpage.
Target
Class format and learning tools
The course is taught with a variety of teaching methods that include frontal lectures and peer-to-peer learning moments such as plenary debates, facilitated discussions, group work in break-out rooms, and multi-media educational material.
There will be the optional opportunity of doing a self-led excursion to a rural area of the students’ choice, with a written output to reflect upon the themes of the course applied to the students’ context.
Participants should be ready to come prepared to class with doing the necessary reading, to foster active and informed participation and ensure a fertile learning environment for everyone.
Timeline
September 22nd – Switching our gaze: looking at the countryside form the country’s side
September 29th – Feeding the revolution: degrowth ecosocialist ocuntrysides, beyond localisms
October 13th – Reproduction rewired: rethinking the Northern agrarian questions from the degrowth ecofeminist standpoint
October 27th – Political Agroecology: emancipatory rural politics, commons and convivial tools for degrowth in the rural
November 3rd – Reinventing the wheel? Between recording “tradition” and real-existing degrowth
Classes will run from 22 September to 3 November 2026 with six 2.5-hour classes held on selected Tuesdays, from 5:00 pm to 7:30 pm (CET).
After the first two consecutive sessions (22 and 29 September), there is a one-week break before 13 October, another one-week break before 27 October, and the final session takes place on 3 November. With this timeline students have more time to digest the readings.
About the teacher
Donatella Gasparro is a doctoral researcher at Scuola Normale Superiore (Florence, Italy), Faculty of Political Science & Sociology, and a research affiliate within the project REAL – A Post Growth Deal at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, where she focuses on advancing research on Real-Existing Degrowth. Donatella researches, teaches and disseminates themes at the intersection of critical agrarian studies, political (agro)ecology, degrowth, and ecofeminism. Donatella’s empirical research focuses on the subsistence-oriented economies that persist in remote rural areas of Southern Italy.
Donatella’s passion for, and connection with, rural areas has deep familiar roots, and besides critical social sciences she has a background in agroecology and agronomy, and has been active in a peasant agroecology association in Southern Italy for more than a decade. Donatella has gained experience in international higher education by teaching political ecology and rural geography at the University of Muenster (Germany), environmental sciences at the University of Leiden (The Netherlands) and Agroecology at Wageningen University (The Netherlands), and by leading several workshops, schools and lectures for the broader public.
Active in spreading degrowth in Italy, she co-founded the degrowth collective Numega. She serves on the scientific committee of the Londa School of Economics (not London), which rethinks heterodox economics from rural perspectives. She is also a member of the editorial collective of Quaderni della Decrescita (Degrowth Notebooks), for which she edited a special issue on degrowth and rurality. In her spare time, she is restoring her family’s abandoned olive grove in Southern Italy.
https://linktr.ee/donatellagasparro
Applications and pricing
Applications to the “Deep Dive” Online Course will be open from August 25th until September 11th, 2026. Registrations will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis. We encourage you to apply early to secure your spot. After registration closes, all applicants will be notified. Once notified, accepted participants will have one week to confirm their spot by paying the course fee.
Price
250 Euros
The basic fee of 250 Euros covers all costs for the course. This consist in five classes of 2.5 hours with a maximum capacity of 25 people. Classes allow interaction and exercise between lecturer and peers.
Two scholarships
The scholarships are intended for individuals who face significant financial barriers and would otherwise be unable to attend the course. To apply for a scholarship please explain your situation to us (see application form).