bopea
{{Short description|Socio-economic culture}}
A bopea (bohemian peasantry) is a member of a British upper class socio-economic group who adopt aspects of a rural life.{{Cite web |last=Walker |first=Simon Mills {{!}} Harriet |date=2023-11-28 |title=BoPea v MePea — the new posh peasant tribes |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/new-rural-tribe-the-bopeas-bohemian-peasants-m80t7rkzw#:~:text=If%20Tatler's%20newly%20minted%20Bohemian,Peasant%20%E2%80%94%20is%20their%20city-based |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=www.thetimes.com |language=en}} The group blend bohemian values of creativity and non-conformism with a more traditional "neo-peasant" worldview that values nature, community, and craft.{{cite web |last1=Hay |first1=Katherine |title=Bopeas: There's a new subculture in town, sorry, the countryside |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/environment/bopeas-theres-a-new-subculture-in-town-sorry-the-countryside-4225194 |access-date=27 November 2023 |website=The Scotsman|date=20 July 2023 }}
History
British society magazine Tatler wrote in 2023 that the term characterised the rapid re-emergence of various traditional practices and hobbies following the COVID-19 lockdowns.{{cite web |last1=Delaney |first1=Evie |title=On England's pleasant pastures seen: Rural rules the roost in the new class of bohemian peasants or 'Bopeas' |url=https://www.tatler.com/article/bopea-cultural-movement-bohemian-peasants-king-charles-rewilding-fermenters |access-date=27 November 2023 |website=Tatler|date=17 November 2023 }} Louis Elton contrasts them against earlier, similar social groups of bobos and yuppies, saying that bopeas wish to "flourish holistically"'.{{Cite web |last=Elton |first=Louis |date=2023-07-16 |title=The dawn of the Bohemian Peasants |url=https://unherd.com/2023/07/the-dawn-of-the-bohemian-peasants/ |access-date=2024-12-23 |website=UnHerd |language=en-GB}}
Writing in The Sunday Times, Phoebe Luckhurst describes bopeas having a variety of hobbies:
{{blockquote|Their place is in the greenhouse, the workshop, the kitchen garden or the apiary; their hobbies are – in no particular order – rewilding, keeping chickens, farm-to-table cooking, knitting, fermenting and cold water swimming.{{cite web |last1=Luckhurst |first1=Phoebe |title=Sloane Rangers no more: meet the rewilding 'bopeas' |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/environment/article/sloane-rangers-no-more-meet-the-bopeas-theyre-into-rewilding-rzm5ghr7d |access-date=27 November 2023 |work=The Times|date=26 November 2023 }}}}
File:PoW & DoC visiting the Hackney City Farm 25.jpg in 2009]]
Tatler identified King Charles III as key inspiration for the group. The magazine also named James Middleton, Merlin Sheldrake, and Ben Goldsmith as examples of the lifestyle. Politico highlighted Carrie Johnson — the wife of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson — as "the nation's Bopea tradwife".{{cite web |last1=Casalicchio |first1=Emilio |title=London Playbook PM: Blair with benefits and a postcard from Frome |url=https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/london-playbook/london-playbook-pm-blair-with-benefits/ |access-date=27 November 2023 |website=POLITICO|date=18 July 2023 }}