ABSTRACT
The current interest in social science research for political gardening motivates the collection (in revised form) of the original papers published in our special issue of Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability ,
which is enriched with new contents and landmark contributions. The aim of this book is to offer the reader with an overview of the diverse claims proposed in the micro-politics of garden activism, ranging from DIY landscaping and engaged ecology, to “digging for anarchy” and counter-neoliberal development, food sovereignty and the reconstruction of the urban commons, community empowerment and the “right to the city”. The social solidarities and divisions, empowerment and learning processes, conflicts and negotiations of which these projects are fraught, are discussed in this compelling collection of chapters unpacking the forms, functioning, and meanings of urban gardening in the context of the neoliberal transformation of cities in the Global North. We believe they can contribute to a critical discussion of the “politics of urban space” ( Tornaghi, 2014 ), and enrich the emerging debate on radical, critical, and political gardening (see, for example, Certomà, 2015 ).
