Spaces for Developing Sociocultural Capital: A Case Study of Community Gardens in an Agrarian Community

Abstract

Common themes growing out of current research on community gardens center on issues in large urban areas including community-based responses to more healthful food options, local sustainability efforts, and combating urban crime. One area of research that is lacking is how sociocultural capital is generated in smaller metropolitan communities though community gardening. This thesis addresses this void as a means to begin understanding of how the sociocultural networks between community organizations and community gardeners form a symbiotic relationship of interconnected capital production within cities found in historically agrarian regions. This research includes a specific set of methods for investigating Fargo-Moorhead community gardens as places utilized for building sociocultural capital by providing gathering spaces, learning centers, food security, and social interactions. It sheds a new perspective on the intricate connections community gardening plays in the role of building sociocultural capital to aid in sustainability, particularly for, historically agrarian communities.