Farming as a Counterculture. Family Farms in Central Bosnia

The study analyses the position of family farms in Central Bosnia as one of the strategies of adaptation to the economic and social decline associated with the transformation of heavy industry. The basic argument is that, in addition to the pragmatic motivation to provide a livelihood for their families, contemporary farmers are also engaged in a purposeful pursuit of an alternative to a society that these actors perceive as corrupt and fundamentally unreformable. Against the generalised distrust of the population towards institutions, they advocate the strengthening of personalised networks of trust. Food produced by family farms has, in addition to its immediate utility, an important symbolic value as ‘authentic’ or ‘real’. This value is linked to the values associated with environmental protection, but it differs from the discourse of ‘natural’ and ‘organic’ food. The restoration of family farms in Central Bosnia can be seen as a counterculture that aims to provide an alternative to the negatively perceived dominant trends in society by strengthening local communities. ‘Authentic food’ becomes the unifying materialised symbol of this counterculture.