Study of Agricultural Ecological Habitus among Farmers in Azna County

Agriculture, as the most fundamental form of human material interaction with nature, has always been in interaction with socio-cultural structures. Due to its role in ensuring food security and the livelihoods of societies, this activity is inevitably in interaction with nature and can therefore have profound consequences on natural resources such as water, soil, and biodiversity. In the meantime, the concept of “habitus” as a set of internalized tendencies, attitudes, and behavioral patterns that are formed through the process of socialization provides a powerful conceptual tool for understanding how farmers interact with the environment. The study, by utilizing Bourdieu’s concept of “habitus” and extending it to the ecological field, examines farmers’ ecological habitus and the role of socio-economic processes in their marginalization.
Methodology
This research was conducted with a qualitative approach and using the systematic grounded theory method of Strauss and Corbin. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 33 farmers from Azna County, Lorestan Province. Participants were selected employing purposive sampling and maximum diversity strategy (based on criteria such as residence in rural areas, land ownership, education, crop type, age, agricultural experience, and gender), and sampling continued until theoretical saturation. To increase the validity of the findings, two strategies were used: “qualitative audit” (review by supervisors and consultants in three stages of open, axial, and selective coding) and “member review” (review of findings with participants). Data analysis was conducted in three stages of open, axial, and selective coding.
Findings
Data analysis led to the identification of 10 main categories and one core category titled “ecological habitus on the margins.” The paradigmatic model of the research indicates that the “invisible hand of the market mechanism” and “land division among heirs” as causal conditions, the “unbalanced structure of the agricultural product distribution and market system” as background conditions, and “social capital erosion,” the “weakness of monitoring systems,” the “ineffectiveness of resource protection laws,” and “property disputes” as mediating conditions have simultaneously marginalized the ecological habitus of farmers. The findings illustrate that the invisible hand of the market, through factors such as consumerist demand, price and income, and financial inability, drives farmers towards cultivating short-term profitable crops. Also, dividing land among heirs under the pretext of preserving the paternal legacy leads to land fragmentation, reduced productivity, and change in land use in the long term, and institutionalizes annual cultivation as an automatic behavior. The unbalanced structure of distribution and brokerage also reproduces the vicious cycle of poverty, dependency, and migration. In this process, the ecological habitus based on indigenous knowledge and collective cooperation gives way to a speculative habitus in which the farmer internalizes the destructive logic of the market as the “only possible way.” In such a context, farmers are forced to adopt unsustainable strategies such as overexploitation of resources and abandoning crop rotation.
Conclusion
The findings are consistent with and complementary to the results of previous studies, including the studies of Abdollahi et al. (2016) on the speculative semantic system in the face of drought and the research of Sayarkhalaj et al. (2014) on farmers’ understanding of the self-reliant and sustainable past. The study shows that the transition from self-reliance to commercialization has been made through three causal processes: the invisible hand of the market as a guide to farmer action, land division under the pretext of preserving paternal heritage as a behavioral paradox (which gives identity in the short term but leads to fragmentation and inefficiency in the long term), and the unbalanced structure of distribution and brokerage as an aggravator of poverty and inefficiency. The final paradigmatic model of the study indicates a deep structural gap between the ecological requirements of agriculture (sustainability, biodiversity, rotation, resource-wise management) and the logic governing socio-economic structures (commercialization, land fragmentation, common ownership, unbalanced distribution, property disputes, ineffective regulatory laws). This structural gap, which is caused on the one hand by structural market pressures and on the other by institutional paradoxes in the ownership system and the weakness of the farmer’s agency in redefining production patterns, has had consequences such as a multi-layered public health crisis (including occupational poisoning, food chain contamination, diseases caused by toxic residues, and long-term effects on mental health), a decrease in biodiversity (caused by the change in rangeland use, the destruction of natural habitats, and the elimination of natural enemies of pests), and forced migration from the countryside. These findings demonstrate that ecological habitus that once guaranteed sustainability and self-reliance have been marginalized by structural changes and have given way to a speculative habitus in which the farmer internalizes the destructive logic of the market as the “only possible way” and considers it “natural” and “wise.”
Drawing on the findings, the following policy recommendations are proposed: Empowering farmers through education and support for indigenous knowledge; Revising the semantic system governing the agricultural sector from commercialism to sustainability by using the cultural and identity capacities existing in the collective memory of farmers; Creating local markets and strengthening rural cooperatives to reduce the role of intermediaries and brokers in pricing products; Reforming the regulatory system and strengthening enforcement guarantees for resource conservation laws; Designing incentive mechanisms for farmers who use eco-friendly methods.