Abstract
This Master's thesis examines the German farmers’ protests of 2024 through the combined lenses of agrarian studies and documentary theory. While public debate largely framed the protests as a reaction to proposed cuts to agricultural diesel subsidies, this research situates them within broader struggles over visibility, political representation, and the marginalization of alternative voices within debates about the future of agriculture.
Drawing on documentary filmmaking as both method and object of analysis, the project investigates how images of protesting farmers can both reinforce and unsettle dominant visions of agricultural development. Rather than seeking a more accurate representation of protesting farmers, the filmmaking process is approached as a means of creating an alternative space of exchange in which divergent perspectives on agriculture can be articulated and negotiated.
The thesis argues that documentary film can function as a form of world-making that enables new forms of engagement between farmers, consumers, and wider publics.
