The Memory of Hops: Rural Bioculture as a Collective Means of Reimagining the Future

Estrella Alfaro-Saiz (), Susana Cámara-Leret, Miguel González-González, Óscar Fernández-Álvarez, Sergio Rodríguez-Fernández, Darío López-López, Ana I. Paniagua-García, Carmen Acedo and Rebeca Díez-Antolínez
Additional contact information
Estrella Alfaro-Saiz: Department of Biodiversity and Environmental Management, University of León, 24071 León, Spain
Susana Cámara-Leret: Independent Researcher, 24153 Vegas del Condado, Spain
Miguel González-González: Social Anthropology, University of León, 24071 León, Spain
Óscar Fernández-Álvarez: Social Anthropology, University of León, 24071 León, Spain
Sergio Rodríguez-Fernández: Department of Biodiversity and Environmental Management, University of León, 24071 León, Spain
Darío López-López: Department of Biodiversity and Environmental Management, University of León, 24071 León, Spain
Ana I. Paniagua-García: Centre of Biofuels and Bioproducts, Agricultural Technological Institute of Castilla y León, Villarejo de Órbigo, 24358 León, Spain
Carmen Acedo: Department of Biodiversity and Environmental Management, University of León, 24071 León, Spain
Rebeca Díez-Antolínez: Centre of Biofuels and Bioproducts, Agricultural Technological Institute of Castilla y León, Villarejo de Órbigo, 24358 León, Spain
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Miguel González González

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 6, 1-34

Abstract: This article, set within an art–science collaborative framework, exposes a multidisciplinary research platform aimed at identifying new relationships with hops ( Humulus lupulus ), its harvest, and local memory. It presents an ecological and ethnobotanical study of the plant, from its natural habitat to its past/present cultivation, its traditional uses, and possible applications in pharmacy and cosmetics. It offers a qualitative study with an ethnographic approach to participant observation, using techniques such as in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and life stories. Finally, it brings forth a process of material experimentation from the arts, based on rethinking waste systems to create new biomaterials with manifold future applications. The results from this hybrid methodology show the multiple possibilities that the plant offers beyond its cultivation for the brewing industry. Likewise, it shows how spaces, relationships, and dialogues have been generated with wide repercussions on a local and planetary scale, related to the sustainability of the rural world and territorial cohesion, all of which are intrinsic to emergent agrarian practices. The conclusions show a complex scenario that demands a hybrid response to understand the paradoxes to which the plant is subjected and the uncertain future of agrarian culture.

Keywords: rural knowledge; thinking-through-making; loss and damage; sustainability; rural livelihoods; agroecology; herbarium; living collection; memory bank; agricultural waste (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
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