engleski

Farmer’s markets and hybridities of consumption in the pandemic – the shift to virtual

Unforeseen crises such as pandemics affect the daily life of urban dwellers. Although economic and social dimensions of everyday spaces had already shifted to become virtual to some extent before the pandemic (for example, online stores, social networks), farmers markets are a rare urban public space that has grown more popular in the last decade while resisting the virtual. Rooted in the traditional urban tissue for centuries, farmers markets produce democratic social space par excellence as they host a wide range of social practices and relations among socially diverse populations. The rise of a digitised model of farmers markets will impact both the identity of public space and consumer culture. What happens to social relations and the placeness of the farmers market once we shift it into the virtual? What do our communities gain and what do they lose in this transformation, and what can be learned about our culture and identities from this process? To answer these questions, we conducted an online survey on a sample of farmers market users in Croatian cities (N = 686). The results indicate the importance of hybridities of consumption and the shift in the traditional patterns of consumer culture towards new opportunities in digital society. The challenges are numerous and long term as both models are desirable but unreplaceable in some elements. The main task is to keep both alternative forms of farmers market available and compatible in the context of sustainable cities.

farmers` market ; consumer cultures ; social relations ; placeness ; hybridities of consumption

nije evidentirano