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The Production of Knowledge and the Production of Commodities: The Case of Rapeseed Technoscience 1
Author(s) -
Juska Arunas,
Busch Lawrence
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
rural sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.083
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1549-0831
pISSN - 0036-0112
DOI - 10.1111/j.1549-0831.1994.tb00549.x
Subject(s) - rapeseed , technoscience , production (economics) , commodity , agriculture , business , brassica , agricultural economics , economics , social science , agronomy , sociology , biology , ecology , finance , macroeconomics
A crucial issue in the theory of technological change—the transformation of knowledge into commodities in agriculture—is examined through the role that technoscience played in the transformation of rapeseed ( Brassica campestris and B. napus ) from a minor crop used largely for marine lubricants into a major global competitor in edible oil markets. The study is based on a content analysis of the worldwide bibliography of rapeseed. A network approach is used to show that emergence and successful development of the rapeseed commodity subsector included three simultaneously occurring and interacting developments: production of new knowledge, modification of commodities, and extension of rapeseed production networks. Implications of the network approach for the analysis of agricultural development are discussed.