Affective spaces of the rural: A praxeological analysis of the “spatial pioneers” of Upper Lusatia (Germany)

While many rural regions in Germany are facing a downward socio-structural spiral, there is a growing societal yearning for rurality and the practices associated with it. By creating a network for individuals who migrate from urban centers to a peripheral rural area, the self-proclaimed “spatial pioneer” movement of Upper Lusatia operates at the convergence of these realities. Through an ethnographic inquiry into this movement, we study the social practices of these spatial pioneers, particularly focusing on affective practices that evoke emotional responses within individuals. We identified five dimensions that shape the spatial pioneers' rural lifeworlds — nature, work, community, simplicity, and self-efficacy. From the perspective of the spatial pioneers, rural spaces are not necessarily ‘ideal’ via their discursive representations. However, rurality as a lifestyle (as a way of living) becomes desirable via the (affective) practices it enables. The singularity of structurally weak rural areas lies in the fact that they offer opportunities for living the ‘good life’ that, due to limiting material and cultural structures, are unavailable elsewhere (e.g., in urban settings). In applying the concept of affective spaces, we aim for a deeper understanding of the spatial pioneers' bodily-affective experience, perception, and practice-based production of space. By doing so, we provide insights into practice-based, affective (re-)productions of rurality and rural spaces.