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Can standards save organic farming from conventionalisation? Dynamics of collective projects and rules in a French organic producers’ organisation
Author(s) -
Dufeu Ivan,
Le Velly Ronan,
Bréchet JeanPierre,
Loconto Allison
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
sociologia ruralis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.005
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1467-9523
pISSN - 0038-0199
DOI - 10.1111/soru.12298
Subject(s) - certification , organic farming , collective action , agriculture , unintended consequences , business , core (optical fiber) , organic certification , action (physics) , economics , political science , law , management , engineering , geography , telecommunications , physics , archaeology , quantum mechanics , politics
The unintended consequences of standards and certification schemes, particularly their challenges for alternative agri‐food networks, is a core concern of rural sociology. The conventionalisation of organic agriculture is a prime example. In this article, we contribute to this debate by studying standards that organic farmers developed for themselves within a French organic producers’ organisation. We introduce a ‘regulationist theory of collective action’ and show that these farmers crafted specific rules that go beyond the EU regulation, which in turn gave life to their own alternative, collective project. We thus demonstrate that standardisation and certification do not inevitably engender conventionalisation.