The New Cultural Practice of The Little Donkey Farm

Title： The Research of The Meaning of The New Cultural Practice of The Little Donkey Farm

( 探究小毛驴市民农园实践的新文化意义 )

Author: 

KE Zhen ( 柯桢 ) 

Master 2015 Thesis

Abstract:  

This paper analyses the practices of The Little Donkey Farm, and tries to investigate the cultural meaning of them. This paper is based on the method of observation and interview. The Little Donkey Farm belongs to China contemporary rural construction activities. .The farm uses natural agricultural farming methods. It is devoted to the urban and rural mutual help, and is also committed to sustainable patterns of life. The existing literatures discuss the function and significance of the farm in the framework of "community support agriculture (CSA)" model.

In this paper, the perspective of cultural studies is adopted to investigate if Little Donkey Farm can construct new culture and a new way of life. This paper starts from the definition of culture of Birmingham School. Culture is a new life style, and it is the form of social and material life.

The production and everyday life practices of the farm have constructed a new culture. The new culture has four aspects. First, the farm implements ecological cultivating methods and reconstructs the basic role of producing and supporting life of land. The farm tries to take the perspective of “Land-Mother” back to the daily life, which has been excluded by capital operation for a long time. Second, the farm attracts some citizens back to plow land and celebrate the traditional farming festival. In doing so, the farm reconstructs the meaning of land and nature, and partially changes the life style of consumerism of the citizen participants. Third, citizen consumers are also producers. They themselves cultivate land in the farm. People who participate in farm work and activities are organized in mutual support, and joint activities of cultivation. New social relationship is built up among the various participants of the farm.  Fourth, working in the farm has influenced consumers, volunteers, interns and staff. They recognize and respect the value of the agricultural work.

The farm has its limitations in constructing new culture. First, the interpersonal relationship of mutual understanding and supporting only is formed in the activities of the participants in the farm. It cannot change the whole social interpersonal model. Second, labor in the farm makes people recognize the value and significance of labor and it establishes a different way of life in the society of consumerism, but people cannot get the more profound collective consciousness. Although the ways of work and life of Little Donkey farm still have many limitations, Little Donkey Farm’s pursuit of benign cultural practice is meaningful and respectable.