The Future of Peasants: A Multidisciplinary Review of Culture, Systems, and Movements

Globalisation, climate change, and agricultural industrialisation, as part of a broader polycrisis, are increasingly influencing the future of the peasantry. Currently, de-peasantisation and rural ageing are realities in most countries. However, these social processes are not linear and, under specific contexts, re-peasantisation also occurs, modifying the peasant culture, systems and movements. This review aims to analyse these three dimensions of the peasant world, reflecting on the possible futures of the peasantry in a globalised world, subject to constant changes and pressures on the rural environment. Understanding peasant culture, systems, and movements provides critical insights into sustainable agriculture, resource sovereignty, and the resilience of rural livelihoods. This study explores how peasants actively forge their futures by looking into how they adopt diverse social reproduction strategies. Traditional narratives of the de-peasantisation process are analysed, identifying pathways to empowerment, resilience, and sustainable livelihoods, to understand the adaptation of peasants’ life systems as expressions of a metamodern sensitivity. The future of the peasantry lies in a delicate balance between tradition and innovation. The first plays a crucial role in protecting local knowledge gained through decades of trial and error; the second is essential to cope with the growing climate and economic uncertainties. Peasant systems can become important frameworks for adapting agricultural and pastoralist processes into a present and future fast-changing world. This review provides a multidisciplinary overview of social-environmental impacts on peasant socio-ecosystems by analysing territorial de-peasantisation, re-peasantisation, and rural ageing, exploring social, ecological, and ethical dimensions of peasant systems. Traditional ecological knowledge, coupled with agroecology and circular economy, may play a crucial role in the future, enhancing food sovereignty, rural sustainability, affecting agrarian change, and improving peasants’ systems of life.