Farmers and Ecological Habitus in the Margins: a Qualitative Study Based on Grounded Theory

In recent years, Iran's agricultural sector has been exposed to various environmental crises and risks, which have had deep and irreparable impacts on the structure of villages. The role of social and cultural contexts in the emergence of these crises and risks cannot be ignored in the formation of attitudes, values ​​and behaviors that create these risks in the agricultural field. The purpose of this research was to analyze the ecological habitus of farmers in Azna city and to discover the reasons and contexts of its formation. This research was done using qualitative method and grounded theory. The research sampling was purposeful and continued until theoretical saturation was reached. The number of participants was 33. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data. The findings showed that the perceived structural pressures and the double passivity-inefficiency of the government as causal conditions, the equation of inheritance and division, which caused excessive fragmentation of agricultural lands as intervening conditions and the double-edged blade of mechanized cultivation as contextual conditions cause marginalization of ecological habitus. Facing these conditions, farmers choose products attractive in the market, excessive use of chemicals and not leaving the land fallow as a strategy, which results in the water resources crisis, soil erosion and migration. Interventions like legislations, education and paying attention to the traditional and indigenous knowledge of farmers can lead to the improvement of the ecological habitus of farmers and preserve the ecosystem.