Résumé
The rise of projects at the local level is characteristic of European rural policies. This paper analyzes why farmers do not participate in these projects. If the tensions existing between sectoral priority and territorial goals is a well documented topic in the litterature, that is not the case for the issue of farmers’ modalities of participation. Our results show that participation schemes fit ill with the organizational habits of farmers. Based on a case study (that of Aude, in southern France), we highlight two main processes: 1. the participatory approach operates a selection toward new farmers, at the expense of traditionnal winegrowers; 2. agricultural and local institutions end up becoming political rivals, with competition for the access to the funding of expertise among technicians as a backdrop. Our case study highlights the effects of participatory approaches and tools on the weak insertion of farmers in territorial governance.