Re-Occupying the city : Social movements and food sovereingty in Barcelona

Abstract: This thesis investigates the incorporation of food sovereignty in the habitual practices of social movements in Barcelona, Spain; in a context dominated by the aftermaths of the financial crisis of 2008. The aim of this study is achieved, on one hand, through the utilization of four theoretical concepts, which are the right to the city approach, food sovereignty, social movements and the practice theory. On the other hand, it is also achieved by a qualitative research based on an ethnographic approach that highlights the actors’ discourses. The main methods used are semi-structured interviews, observations and informal conversations. Those are intended to analyse the practices that organizations and activists conduct regarding food issues and how these are entangled to a broader political stance. This master thesis has emphasised how food sovereignty has become in both an element of a wider struggle for recovering the city for the neighbours and an opposition tool against the neoliberal city.