Forking sustainability pathways? Engaged research on local food practices in the Faroe Islands and São Tomé e Príncipe

Olsen, Elisabeth Skarðhamar and Bettini, Giovanni and Whittle, Rebecca and Bogadóttir, Ragnheiður (2025) Forking sustainability pathways? Engaged research on local food practices in the Faroe Islands and São Tomé e Príncipe. PhD thesis, Lancaster University.

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Abstract

This thesis offers a unique analysis and perspective on the subsistence-oriented food economy in two small island countries - the Faroe Islands and São Tomé e Príncipe. Based upon empirical material generated through an engaged research process with small-scale food producers and activists in the two contexts, the research questions addressed in this thesis are: What characterises the subsistence-oriented food economies in the Faroe Islands and São Tomé e Príncipe? What logics, principles and values do they consist of? And how might these inform transformative sustainability pathways? With this as analytical focus, the thesis aims to contribute with empirical insights and theorisation in directions that go beyond critique of the status quo. By focusing on already existing ‘sustainabilities’ in the sphere of food (re)production in the two contexts (the prevalence of mutual aid, non-monetary relations of exchange, a sufficiencymindset, etc.), the thesis aspires to ignite glimmers of hope and inspiration for policymakers, community organisers and other social actors when it comes to forging contextually meaningful and transformative sustainability pathways. The thesis body comprises four chapters (structured as stand-alone papers), which each explore dimensions of the research questions across the cases. The positionality of the researcher (being herself from the Faroe Islands) has entailed radically different approaches in terms of research design and participatory processes in the two contexts, with participatory and action dimensions more substantive in relation to the Faroese context in the final thesis. In addition to elaborating a reflexive and situated approach to participatory research with local communities in different contexts across the global North-South line, the thesis also contributes with reflections on another methodological conundrum, namely, how to support existing alternatives to growth through engagement in the field and simultaneously contribute to the advancement of knowledge that can feed into academic post-growth theorisation.