Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

During the last years, Sweden has seen the rise of a new green wave (NGV) consisting of people who move to rural areas in a strive for self-sufficiency and alternative ways of living. The point of departure for this thesis is that radical changes in lifestyle is a result of discontent with some aspect(s) of mainstream society. Through unstructured interviews and a discourse analysis inspired by Carol Bacchi’s WPR-approach, I investigate discourses present in the NGV through inquiries into the respondents’ practices and motives. The study shows that the respondents’ daily practices and life choices are motivated by their ideas about our economic system, social change, food production and sustainability. The findings are then placed in the context of ecomodernism, degrowth, the crisis of democracy and an economic system based on growth, consumption and paid labour.