Connecting Seemingly Separate Worlds (an ethnographic account of the perceptions and practices of the inhabitants of eco community O Fojo in central Portugal)

Abstract

With this thesis I aim to address two issues, of which the first is societal and the second is scientific. The social system of modern neoliberal capitalism has become dominant in most societies around the world, shaping the way we perceive ourselves as individuals in relation to society and nature. Its dominant discourse has created a fragmented culture that is both ecologically and socially unsustainable, yet one that we collectively maintain. This thesis provides an ethnographic account of what alternatives to this system could look like by focusing on the ecovillage movement. More specifically, this thesis is a case study of eco community O Fojo Permaculture in central Portugal, whose inhabitants manifest a radically alternative holistic culture. In analysing their perceptions and practices by making use of the three permaculture ethics of care, I illustrate how they are shaping and implementing this alternative culture on a daily basis. In ethnographically accounting for such alternatives I aim to address a scientific issue: I believe that as citizen-anthropologists living at this moment in time we have a responsibility to contribute to what I call a future-oriented anthropology, that goes beyond merely analysing problems and instead has a focus on solutions.