Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
This study researches conventional farmers' resentment towards the nitrogen policies in the context of Zeeland (a Dutch region in the South-West of the Netherlands). Since 2019, when the Raad van...Show moreThis study researches conventional farmers' resentment towards the nitrogen policies in the context of Zeeland (a Dutch region in the South-West of the Netherlands). Since 2019, when the Raad van State decided that the current policies on Plan Handling Nitrogen (Plan Aanpak Stikstof, PAS) where insufficient in protecting Dutch nature reserves from biodiversity loss, strict regulations were opposed on the agricultural sector by the government. From that moment the already dormant crisis became ignited, because many farmers strongly resisted these regulations in what became known as ‘the farmers protests’. To be able to understand farmers' resentment both in its diversity and in its depth, this thesis focusses on farmers' cosmovisions in relation to blaming narratives and notions of dignity. Each showing a different element of what resentment entails. The research shows how conventional farmers are resentful towards the nitrogen policies, because their perspectives of the world, structured through their cosmovisions, are fundamentally different from the perspectives underlaying the nitrogen policies. Because of this, they blame others, which are to a lesser degree, affected by the policies, such as big industries, but mostly the actors that inflicted this experience on them. At the same time they feel a denial of their dignity, as they feel unrecognized as fulfilling an essential role in society.Understanding these three aspects is vital for understanding the deeply felt emotions that are at play in farmers’ lives during the nitrogen crisis. The aim of this research is to bring nuance in the polarized discussion around nitrogen. While facing many (societal and ecological) future crises, both in the Netherlands and on a larger scale, I argue that research on which convictions and beliefs form resentment, can be the only basis from which relevant policies should be constructed.Show less
