Sammendrag
Based on fieldwork among organic farmers in Corsica, I explore the values, practices and actions emerging in the interface between tourism and organic agriculture. Both of these domains make up the two grand economic pillars in Corsica. However, in the last 50 years, tourism has been exerting more and more pressure on land in the form of urbanization and construction. Today, young farmers struggle to gain access to land, while farmers who already own land are being pressured to sell. I argue that these organic farmers inhabit a value system that is in direct opposition to the project of tourism, and by extension to capitalism. However, the farmers positioning in the capitalist system creates a dilemma between their ecological values and their need for an income. I argue that for some, agri-tourism stands as a solution to this dilemma, as it can be viewed as a compromise between ecological and economic values. Moreover, agri-tourism is viewed as a possible way to save the Corsican landscape from the threat of urbanization. However, this solution merely conforms to the logic of the capitalist system in the way that it is a technical solution to a systemic problem. Another solution lies in the political decision on land usage. I argue that the interface between agriculture and tourism may be located in the geographical space of the littoral. In this way, land is a means to realize specific values. I seek to show that the conflict between agriculture and tourism revolves around the definition of land and its function, and thus which values this natural resource should reflect. This is a task for politicians, who have the political power to define land and consequently whether it shall be used for construction or for agriculture. I contend that the local politicians in Corsica are stuck in a double bind between the desire to develop and to conserve land. Finally, I argue that the organic movement in Corsica is a movement that aims to define the Corsican landscape by reversing the value hierarchy of capitalism through the implementation of long-term farming practices.