Urban Farm DB
Research catalogue
Database research record2017·New Zealand (Palmerston North)

Good gardeners and bad plants: Governing health in community gardens

Virginia Webb

New Zealand sociology

Urban Farm DB summary

This research in a Palmerston North, New Zealand community garden examined the struggle over norms and power relations, specifically regarding tobacco cultivation. It found that the garden hierarchy's reluctance to accommodate alternative perspectives on tobacco cultivation revealed a troubling politics of race and class. This reluctance meant the garden's potential to disrupt social hierarchies was unrealized, highlighting how health notions can become a basis for social control.