Feola, G. (2026). Broadening the Understanding of Deconstruction in Prefigurative Social Spaces. In: Sareen, S., Juhola, S. (eds) Societal Transitions to Sustainability. Palgrave Studies in Environmental Transformation, Transition and Accountability. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-07395-2_7 Abstract. Social scientists have often studied grassroots initiatives in terms of prefiguration, which has generated important insights into the construction of…

Feola, G., 2025.  Beyond Refusal: Reconceptualising Deconstruction in Prefigurative Social Spaces. Sociologica 19(3), 159-185. Abstract. Social scientists have often studied grassroots initiatives in terms of prefiguration, generating important insights into the construction of alternatives to capitalism. However, the role of deconstructive processes, such as the refusal to engage with capitalist logics and relations, remains debated…

It is about power! Unveiling power and empowerment in grassroots agri-food initiatives. Grassroots Innovations Webinar, Sustainability Transitions Research Network. Abstract. This webinar examines the role of power and empowerment in grassroots-led food system transformation. It focuses on prefiguration (enacting a desired future in the present) as a particular contribution of grassroots initiatives to food system transformation….

Sustainability transformation: critical perspectives in times of discord. Keynote talk. Social Sciences for Climate Change: From Knowledge to Action, Eurac Research, Bolzano/Bozen, 4-5 September 2025. Abstract. Over the past few decades, the social sciences have established their presence in global environmental change and sustainability studies. They have been shown to be crucial in unpacking the social…

Grassroots initiatives in the context of postgrowth thinking. Keynote talk. Policy Lab Workshop titled “Grass-Root Transformations for Beyond Growth”, European Policy Centre, Brussels, Belgium, 10 June 2025.  

Riflessioni sui percorsi di trasformazione post-crescita dei sistemi agroalimentari. Food Studies Lab, Department of Cultures, Politics and Society, University of Turin, Italy, 5 June 2025, held online.

Giuseppe Feola presented the paper ‘Facilitar el desaprendizaje en la enseñanza agrícola: un estudio de caso en los Países Bajos’ at the VI Seminario Internacional Educación para la Sustentabilidad organised by Escuela de Ciencias Humanas at Unitrópico. The talk built on the paper Facilitating unlearning in agricultural education: preparing for family-farm succession, coauthored with Laura…

Spanier, J., 2025. Radical rural place-making? Agricultural grassroots initiatives in the everyday negotiation of the European countryside. Journal of Rural Studies 118, 103676.   Abstract. In the context of capitalist and conservative renderings of European countrysides, ‘radical rural’ initiatives (Halfacree, 2007) have received increasing attention. Agricultural grassroots initiatives (AGIs), although acknowledged for their contribution to post-capitalist…

Today Giuseppe Feola gave a research seminar titled ‘How (not) to initiate a grassroots agri-food initiative: insights from a Dutch case study’ at the Sustainability Institute (Maastricht University). Abstract: This seminar presents new empirical evidence and nuanced reflections on the social processes of transformation within grassroots agri-food initiatives that propose relocalised, decentralised and autonomous ways…

Fiore, F., Feola, G., Piló, F., (in press). Grassroots Initiatives as Political Actors: Scaling, Capture and Constituency in Food Policy Councils. Environmental Policy and Governance. Abstract Grassroots initiatives (GIs) play a crucial role in driving sustainability transitions. They adopt different approaches to exert impact through multi-stakeholder governance platforms, such as ‘scaling up’, ‘scaling through’ and…