Community Garden Politics

Abstract

Gardening is political. In this chapter, we explore the politics of nonreli-gion, with gardens and gardening functioning as a set of practices that illustrate how lifestances can be structural, collectivist, relational, and radical. We use data from Brazil and Argentina to frame political, educational, and activist elements of gardening around the world. These Latin American case studies provide impor-tant examples of the ‘everyday politics’ of gardening. Politics is also present in the community gardens of the Global North to varying degrees. However, the political dimensions of gardening are more explicitly articulated by Brazilian and Argenti-nian gardeners perhaps because of their political histories. This chapter demon-strates how nonreligion, as illustrated in the politics of community gardening, can contribute constructively to positive political engagement and community building.