The narratives of geographical indications as commons: a study on Catalan and Swedish cases

ABSTRACT

There is a growing research that considers the geographical indications (GIs) of agricultural products and foodstuffs as commons. However, narrative approaches exploring this relationship are scarce. This research analyzed stories attached to twelve Catalan and Swedish products within the European Union’s Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) schemes to map out how narratives of commons are articulated. The analysis raised four key aspects of the narratives of GIs as commons: i) historical constitution; ii) collective efforts as a driving force behind their value; iii) co-responsibility of the community of producers and related actors; and iv) intangible outputs and focus on heritage. The results show that the narratives of GIs as commons have a stronger presence in Catalonia and more clearly address issues of social engagement and cultural heritage than in Sweden. Internal differences were noted in the two countries and some GIs are more commercially oriented and cater for world markets while others are noncommercial and only regionally consumed. The article contributes to the research on GIs, better connecting their complexities throughout their communicative and narrative constitution and articulation as commons.

KEYWORDS:

• Geographical indications
• food commons
• narratives of place
• agricultural products
• place of origin
• food quality

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express our gratitude to Nicky Doyle and Emma O´Shea for their reading and suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Human towers, or castells in Catalan, is a cultural expression of Catalonia, deeply rooted in the area of Valls and Tarragona, which was declared intangible heritage in 2010 by the UNESCO (2010).

2. See https://www.gotland.se, accessed September 20, 2020.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Enric Castelló

Enric Castelló is Associate Professor at the Department of Communication, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Spain) and member of the Asterisc, Grup de Recerca en Comunicació. He specializes in topics related to storytelling, geographical indications, identities and communication. He was invited researcher at Glasgow Caledonian University and at Loughborough University. He has published in international journals including the Journal of Rural Studies, Spanish Journal of Agricultural Research, Journal of Consumer Culture; Media, Culture & Society; Narrative Inquiry; European Journal of Cultural Studies; Memory Studies; or the International Journal of Communication among others. He was awarded with the Article of the Year by the European Journal of Communication (2007).

Daniel Lövgren

Daniel Lövgren is a Senior Lecturer in Media and Communication Studies at the Department of Informatics and Media, Uppsala University, Sweden. His research focuses on organizational and strategic communication in general and organizing processes relating to identity and identification in public sector organizations in particular. He is currently participating in a project on the challenges and tensions of new and old ideals in Higher Education. Lately, his research interest has also included issues of communication, food, and sustainability.

Göran Svensson

Göran Svensson holds a Ph.D. in Media and Communication studies from Department of Informatics and Media, Uppsala University, Sweden, with the thesis Understanding media criticism. Conceptual, empirical and theoretical studies of Swedish media criticism 1998-2013. He has published in Sociologisk forskning, Javnost-The public, Nordicom-Review, is the editor of the sociological textbook Sweden- Everyday life and Structure and contributes to the Swedish Handbook in Journalism Research. He is doing research in the areas of critical institutionalism, digital institutionalization, Swedish public diplomacy, media criticism, media accountability, media trust and media credibility.