Disastri lenti agroalimentari e divenire dei mondi rurali. Un’introduzione alla special issue = Slow agri-food disasters and the becoming of rural worlds. An Introduction to the Special Issue

Slow agrifood disasters and rural becomings. An introduction to the special issue The article introduces the concept of slow agrifood disasters as a critical lens to investigate contemporary forms of ecological and social vulnerability in rural worlds, with a focus on the Mediterranean area. Drawing on empirical cases from Morocco, Italy, and France, the special issue shows how the productivist and industrial organization of agri-food systems not only fails to prevent disasters but often constitutes one of their main direct or indirect causes. The concept of slow disaster enables the analysis of these processes across multiple scales and over extended temporalities, revealing how the accumulation of ecological, health, and social damages is often normalized. Within this framework, the notion of rural becomings shifts the focus away from static representations of rurality toward an understanding of rural worlds as dynamic realities, shaped by socio-ecological tensions, multispecies relationships, and conflicts between divergent agricultural models where disaster can – though rarely does – become an opportunity of transformation toward agroecology. The ethnographic and multispecies approaches adopted in the articles of the special issue highlight the complex relations between agriculture, ecology, institutions, and social subjectivities, questioning technocratic and financial responses to risk. Finally, the dialogue between agri-food studies and disaster studies suggests new theoretical and methodological pathways for understanding and engaging with contemporary rural territories.