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Research on “New Peasantry”

ÖzU Gastronomy and Culinary Arts professor Candan Türkkan’s research aims to identify, define, and explain the generation of a new generation of upper-class farmers in the Turkish countryside following the structural transformation of Turkish agriculture since the 2000s. Unlike the well-research lower class ‘new peasants’ of Latin America and Africa, these ‘neo-peasants’ are usually highly educated (with at least an undergraduate degree), have a long-term experience in high-paying white-collar jobs in the urban economy through which they have accumulated financial capital and understanding and are active internet users (particularly the social media). They have moved from an urban center to a rural area not because they have to but because they want to. They see farming and agriculture both as a lifestyle and a sector in which their eco-conscious investments will have high returns. Connected to the urban and rural economies thus, they have therefore played a significant role in transferring capital and resources from the urban economy to the rural economy, particularly in farming and agriculture. Her research explores these dynamics further, uncovering particularly the effects of the food movement writ-large and the latest trends in gastronomy in the public imagination to initiate such a change vis-à-vis farming, agriculture, and peasant lifestyles.