CSS Working Paper No.2 published: Social-ecological transformation conflicts in rural areasHauke Feddersen

14 December 2020, by CSS

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The second Working Paper in the new CSS Working Paper Series has been published.

Social-ecological transformation conflicts in rural areas. An exploratory case study from a sociology of conventions perspective.

Author: Hauke Feddersen

Abstract: In this study, socio-ecological transformation processes in rural areas are examined from the perspective of the sociology of conventions. For this purpose, a qualitative case study based on semi-narrative interviews as well as documents from and about a small community in Schleswig-Holstein, where various transformation projects were carried out, was conducted. The focus of the work is on the analysis of the patterns of justification for the establishment of two citizens' wind companies, as well as the planning of a solidarity-based agriculture in the village. In this micro-sociological study, potential lines of conflict of the agricultural and energy transformation are revealed by analysing the respective patterns of interpretation and legitimation of the actors concerned. As an example, it can be shown to what extent historically evolved path dependencies, structural changes and changing demands in agriculture can lead to cultural and moral conflicts about the "right" way to cultivate the land. At the same time, it becomes clear in which way an active participation of the local population and the connection to existing cultural patterns of interpretation can contribute to a legitimisation of wind energy plants.