J.R. Spanier

Dr. J.R. Spanier is a PhD researcher at Utrecht University's Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, specializing in Environmental Governance. Currently conducting research within the UNMAKING programme focused on agricultural civil society initiatives.

Education background:

• MSc in Nature, Society and Environmental Governance (University of Oxford)
• BA in Geography and Political Science (University of Heidelberg)

Spanier's research critically examines rural-urban relations within capitalist food systems, with particular focus on Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) initiatives in Germany. Their work investigates how grassroots movements disrupt unsustainable practices through spatial reconfiguration, degrowth principles, and alternative countryside formation. Key interests include:

• Unmaking rural-urban cultural rifts
• Peri-capitalist space creation
• Food sovereignty movements
• Resistance against industrialized agriculture

Analysis of recent publications reveals consistent thematic clusters across sustainability science, human geography, and political ecology. Spanier's scholarly output demonstrates strong engagement with degrowth theory and alternative food networks, particularly examining coalition potentials between movements. Their methodological approach combines empirical case studies with critical theoretical frameworks.

Professionally, Spanier contributes to food sovereignty movements through co-facilitation of the Youth Working Group within the UN Committee on World Food Security's Civil Society Mechanism. Their research is supervised by Dr. Giuseppe Feola, Dr. Ellen Moors, and Dr. Marion Ernwein within the UNMAKING Research Programme.

Spanier actively participates in environmental governance through engagement with social movements and NGOs, focusing on spatial dimensions of food system transformation and resistance against far-right co-option of rural spaces.