Let my people grow: the diffusion of the Jewish farming movement through the Jewish community of the Greater Baltimore Metropolitan Area

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to account for the diffusion of the Jewish farming movement as it transpires through several sites in Baltimore County and Baltimore City, Maryland. This research develops an empirically grounded theory surrounding the establishment and diffusion of the Jewish farming movement, as well as its influence on participating individuals. Research questions include determining the context and reason for the movement's establishment, the mechanisms surrounding its diffusion, and the Jewish cultural and pro-environmental influence of the movement on participants. A grounded theory and mixed method approach was used to discover empirical regularities surrounding this phenomenon. This research resulted in the generation of a substantive level theory, explaining the Jewish farming movement in Baltimore as a new social space that is both the result of social processes, and results in new social processes, all of which are embedded in the theory's core categories of "Jewish community," "Jewish cultural sustainability," and "environmental sustainability." The author concludes that as a new social space, the Jewish farming movement in Baltimore uses community-based organizations to address Jewish cultural longevity and pro-environmentalism.