瀕危年代的情義經濟：台灣新農運動研究

Abstract

當代台灣新農運動承襲自美日的實踐經驗，於近年開創多種另類產銷管道，藉由消費的 力量促進城鄉與食農連結。本計畫即聚焦於新興食農經濟中蓬勃的物質、象徵與情感流 動，嘗試理解其中極為突出的「情義經濟」與倫理性想像，並藉此思考瀕危年代的突圍 可能。透過具體探究與比較不同的另類產銷實踐，本研究企圖探問：相較於以「資本」 為主體的市場經濟，新農運動者主張以「人」與「社群」為主體的另類經濟實踐，究竟 與商品化機制保持著什麼樣的距離？種種以 「人性」、「倫理」、「情感」、「正義」、「良 善」之名的變革宣稱與實踐，又如何改變、形塑我們的欲望、身體、世界與未來？而當 自然、社區、企業、與國家紛紛成為「倫理性主體（ethical subjects）」，這代表著「人性」 的擴張亦或限縮？此刻的台灣新農運動是一個由多重體制內、外的變革力量相互增益並 積極拉扯的張力極大化場域，也因而正是我們反思以上問題的絕佳場域。本研究以情感 研究（affect studies）與環境人類學為理論基礎，盼能經驗性與批判性地深究情義經濟的 政治與文化邏輯，亦同時從它們所召喚的善意、歸屬感、人我與土地倫理中求索實踐的 力量。

The past decade witnesses the rise of new ruralist movements to reclaim and create new spaces and lifestyles around notions of food sovereignty, land justice and environmentalism both in the Globe North and the South. This includes slow life movements, urban agriculture, organic farming in the North, and the resurgence of farmers’ movement along with various urban-rural connection initiatives in the South. My research project proposes to study the above new ruralism and its volatile dynamics by examining the affective economies and its politics in the context of Taiwan. In the past six years, farmers markets have developed rapidly in Taiwan, whose number grew from fifteen in 2010 to over sixty in mid-2013. Notably, notions of precariousness and the respondent ethical imaginations are overflowing in alternative economies of such kind. Meanwhile, concepts such as social enterprise, ethical consumption, and green governance are also gaining popularities amongst business and bureaucratic circles. To what extent are these various forms of affective economics and their ethical discourses inform, shape, and contest with each other? How do we constitute an effective model of alternative economy, which can be truly human-centered and community-based, in the current age of uncertainty and precariousness? My project intends to answer these questions through grounded ethnographic studies among activists and farmers. Proposed research methods include participant observation, engaged ethnography, in-depth interview, and archival research.