Some reflections on Eastern European agriculture an introductory essay to the special issue on “agriculture in Eastern Europe”

This article reviews three general themes pertaining to the transformation of Eastern European agriculture from a command system to a market oriented system. The first theme deals with the diverse character of Eastern European agriculture. In a context in which the agricultures of this region are often considered homogenous, acknowledgement of the varied dimension of this sector is a key element in both analytical and political terms. The second theme pertains to the market. The historical and theoretical dispute over the role of the market has not only been central in the socio-economic reorganization of Eastern European countries and agricultures but is also a common element shared with the West. The third and final theme refers to the changing social stratification of rural regions. The emergence of new and powerful social groups and the demise of others represent fundamental aspects in the understanding of possible trajectories for development. The article concludes with a review of the contributions contained in this special issue of Agriculture and Human Values.Alessandro Bonanno is Associate Professor of Rural Sociology at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is the author of numerous journal articles and books, among themSmall Farms (1987),Sociology of Agriculture (1989),Agrarian Policies and Agricultural Systems (1990), andThe Agricultural and Food Sector in the New Global Era (1993). He is also co-editor of the forthcoming book From Columbus to ConAgra: The Globalization of Agriculture and Food. Since the late 1980s, he has been researching issues pertaining to the Agricultural and Food Sector in selected Eastern European Countries.     

State,class, and technology in tobacco production

Recent debates over the persistence of family farms have focused on the importance of naturalistic obstacles to the capitalist development of agriculture. According to these arguments, the existence of these barriers in some realms of agricultural production precludes the development of wage labor. I argue, however, that in many instances these obstacles are based primarily on political factors. To demonstrate this thesis I illustrate how the tobacco program until recently has proved to be an obstacle to consolidation and structural change in tobacco production. The tobacco program has conditioned the extent of technological development and structural change in tobacco production. From the 1940s to the 1970s, the tobacco program maintained a system of small-scale producers and discouraged technological change in the industry. Changes in the program in the 1970s and 1980s, however, have contributed to the rapid mechanization and structural change among tobacco producers. Many of the obstacles to consolidation were overcome not by technological change, but by weakened political support for the tobacco program. These results suggest that in addition to economic and technological considerations, we need to assess more carefully the political foundations of the capitalist development of agriculture.Gary P. Green is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and the Institute of Community and Area Development at the University of Georgia. His research concentrates on the sociology of agriculture, political economy of rural development, and economic development and community change. He is currently involved in research on the effectiveness of local economic development strategies and self-development strategies among rural communities.     

Is value conflict inherent in rural economic development? An exploratory examination of unrecognized choices

Rural development and economic change has generally been associated with growth and the in-migration of nonlocal firms or their branch plants and offices. Such change has been critiqued and at times resisted because of its implicit urbanism and conflict with rural values and modes of social interaction. The inevitability of the conflict has always been assumed, given the perspectives of development groups and many rural residents. This paper examines the apparent conflicts between the rural ethos and the growth ethos, and the considers the necessity for the pursuit of the forms of growth that tend to undermine rural values. The severely limited set of changes in the local economy considered by the common forms of growth-sponsoring economic development groups is then examined. Finally, the existence of alternative forms of economic change are hypothesized and their viability demonstrated. We conclude that improved economic well-being for rural residents need not sacrifice their values and lifestyles on the altar of urban-influenced economic growth.Peter B. Meyer is professor of Urban Policy at the University of Louisville. He was previously employed at The Pennsylvania State University where he directed the Local Economic Development Assistance Project, a research/technical assistance service to smaller cities, towns, and rural counties. Dr. Meyer's research interests are in processes of community and economic development in capitalist and third world countries and the ways in which processes and their outcomes are measured and valued.     

Filling the white space between the ads

In this personal essay, subtitled A jaundiced view of journalism after 30 years in the trenches, the author discusses the ethics challenges too often involved in the relationships between farm magazines and advertisers. Collusion between advertisers and editors is a clear and present danger, particularly in times when publications are struggling economically. Yet a more important question relates to agricultural journalists' collective failure to report on the underlying structural changes in agriculture and the broader society.Gene Logsdon is a farmer, writer, and editor who lives in Ohio and is recognized as one of agricultural journalism's most respected critics. He is the author of several books, includingHomesteading: How to Find New Independence on the Land, while his work also has appeared in major farm magazines and a newspaper column, The Country Rover. He studied philosophy and history at Bellarmine College and earned a master's degree in folklore and did doctoral work in American studies at Indiana University.     

The varieties of sustainability

Each of four sections in this paper sketches the philosophical problems associated with a different dimension of sustainability. The untitled introductory section surveys the oft-noted discrepancies between different notions of sustainability, and notes that one element of the ambiguity relates to the different points of view taken by a participant in a system and a detached observer of the system. The second section, Sustainability as a System Describing Concept, examines epistemological puzzles that arise when one attempts to assess the truth or falsity of claims that attribute sustainability or non-sustainability. In particular, such claims generally presume bounded systems, but boundary conditions are value-laden. The third section, Sustainability as a Goal Prescribing Concept, examines puzzles that arise in attempting to define sustainability in normative terms. In particular, the question of whether sustainability is an intrinsic or instrumental value is examined. The final section, Sustainability and Bliss, offers an analysis of the moral responsibilities that human beings have, given the fact that knowledge of conditions for achieving sustainability can never be complete.Paul Thompson was President of the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society during 1990 and 1991. He now directs the Center for Biotechnology Policy and Ethics, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. He is also Professor of Philosophy and of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M. His bookThe Ethics of Aid and Trade (Cambridge: 1992, Cambridge U. Press) reviews the alleged conflict of interest between U. S. farmers and efforts that would increase the productivity of agriculture in developing countries.     

Theology and agricultural ethics at state universities: A rejoinder

Michael Eldridge's critique of the author's earlier paper on the place of theology in agricultural ethics at state universities fails in at least three places: (1) Eldridge presents an inadequate picture of how basic assumptions function in human thinking and misuses terms like public, private, particular, empirical, and common experience; (2) he wrongly distinguishes between philosophers and theologians on the bais of their openness to new data, ideas, and public criticism; (3) he misunderstands the meaning of the First Amendment. Baer argues that whenever faculty at a state university deal with the Big Questions—who we are, how we should live, and what it all means—they must be seen, for First Amendment purposes, as operating within the realm of religion. Without such a functional definition of religion, the state will inevitably give unfair advantage to nontheistic, secular answers to the Big Questions. Eldridge is wrong to claim that Dewey escapes the liabilities of particularity and parochialism in a way that theologians do not. He also misunderstands the nature of the First Amendment when he argues that public schools may legitimately propagate Dewey's naturalistic variety of religion. Baer claims that when state universities address the Big Questions, the demands of public justice will be met only if theologians participate in the discussion and debate.Richard A. Baer, Jr. is professor of environmental ethics at Cornell University and a Fellow of the Center for Public Justice in Washington, D.C.     

Global contested terrain: The case of the tuna-dolphin controversy

Employing the case of the global tuna-fish industry, it is argued that the process of globalization is contested terrain as it opens free spaces to some classes or groups and closes free spaces to others; that the nation-States' regulatory abilities are weakened; and finally, that while some social movements may gain, others are marginalized. Three basic conclusions are reached. (1) The industry's actions were successfully contested by environmental groups supported by the legislative and judicial branches of the US State. (2) Simultaneously, pro-environmental legislation is currently threatened, along with several national and international environmental accords. (3) Workers in the US and, particularly, in Latin America are paying the consequences of the introduction of pro-environmental legislation and the actions of transnational corporations (TNCs).Douglas H. Constance is Research Associate of Rural Sociology at the University of Missouri-Columbia. His research interests include the sociology of agriculture and environmental sociology. He is the author of several journal articles and is coauthor with Alessandro Bonanno of the forthcoming bookCaught in the Net: The Global Tuna Industry, Environmentalists, and the State.     

Food assistance through “surplus” food: Insights from an ethnographic study of food bank work

In Canada, food assistance is provided through a widespread network of extra-governmental, community-based, charitable programs, popularly termed food banks. Most of the food they distribute has been donated by food producers, processors, and retailers or collected through appeals to the public. Some industry donations are of market quality, but many donations are surplus food that cannot be retailed. Drawing on insights from an ethnographic study of food bank work in southern Ontario, we examined how the structure and function of food banks operate to facilitate the distribution of foods not marketed through the retail system. Our findings indicate that the handling of industry donations of unsaleable products is a labor-intensive activity, made possible by the surfeit of unpaid labor in food banks, the neediness of food bank clients, and clients lack of rights in this system. The marshalling of volunteer labor to serve a corporate need might be construed as a win-win situation because the work of salvaging edible foodstuffs from among industry surplus helps to feed the hungry while also diminishing the amount of refuse deposited in landfill sites, sparing corporations disposal costs and landfill tipping fees, and helping them forge an image of good corporate citizenship. However, the reliance of food banks on industry donations means that food assistance becomes defined as that which the corporate sector cannot retail. Moreover, the intertwining of food bank work with corporate needs may function to further entrench this ad hoc secondary food system and mitigate against initiatives to develop more effective responses to problems of hunger and food insecurity in our communities.     

Sustaining local agriculture Barriers and opportunities to direct marketing between farms and restaurants in Colorado

Research explored methods for shortening the food links or developing the local foodshed by connecting farmers with food service buyers (for restaurants and institutions) in Colorado. Telephone interviews were used to investigate marketing and purchasing practices. Findings include that price is not a significant factor in purchasing decisions; that food buyers prioritize quality as their top purchasing criterion but are not aware that local farmers can provide higher quality, that institutions are interested in buying locally; that small farms can offer comparable or higher quality produce andservice; and that farmers need to show buyers what the quality of produce and service they can provide.     

The goals and values of local economic development strategies in rural America

The goals and values of economic development strategies vary according to the individual communities that employ them. While economic development strategies are aimed at increasing jobs, income, and community wealth, the issue of who gains and who loses from economic change is often overlooked. The industrial development strategies of the 1960s and 1970s are giving way to local initiatives based on services. Although local efforts may mean greater local control, the globalization of the economy has exposed formerly remote areas to international competition. The challenge to communities will be to achieve a moderate, steady, and manageable pace of good growth. Each community will ultimately need to develop a strategy for economic growth that matches community desires with community resources.Thomas L. Daniels is Director of the Agricultural Preserve Board of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He is co-author ofRural Planning and Development in the United States, and has written several articles on rural ecconomic development.     

The restructuring of the agricultural and food system: Social and economic equity in the reshaping of the Agrarian Question and the Food Question

The paper investigates the characteristics of the global restructuring of the agricultural and food system that has occurred in recent years. Emphasis is placed on the emergence of the Food and Natural Resource Question and its relation to the Agrarian Question. It is argued that rather than being separate issues, these are two aspects of a unified process occurring at the global level. Moreover, it is argued that the transnational unity of the agrarian question and the food question mandates a reconstruction of the arena within which production takes place. This phenomenon in turn generates a set of limits to domestic political institutions and locally generated social demands. The implications of the emergence of the international arena as locus of political action is discussed vis-a-vis the local level of socio-political action.Alessandro Bonanno is Associate Professor of Rural Sociology at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He has researched among other topics, the structure of agriculture, the role of the State in agriculture, and regional and international development. Currently, he is investigating the processes of globalization and restructuring of the agriculture and food sector.     

Constructing “green” foods: Corporate capital, risk, and organic farming in Australia and New Zealand

Public concern over environmentalquality and food safety has culminated in thedevelopment of markets for green foods – foodsthat are variously construed as fresh, chemical-free,nutritious, natural, or produced in anenvironmentally-sustainable manner. Understanding theemergence of green foods is dependent on analysisboth of the ways in which foods are produced andprocessed, and of the meanings that are attached tothem at each stage of their production,transformation, and consumption. The notion of greenfoods is thereby understood here as a fluid andcontestable signifier that myriad actors involved inthe production/consumption cycle may attempt to shapefor their own purposes. This paper explores corporate capital's recent attempts, through certification logosand advertising, to signify the healthiness andenvironmental virtues of organically-produced foods inAustralia and New Zealand. These attempts have not,however, been universally successful either in termsof gaining consumer interest, or in gaining agreementsbetween farmers, certifying organizations, andcapitalist firms over the meaning of organic and thepractice of sustainable agriculture. The experienceof corporate involvement in the organics industry isillustrative of yet-to-be-resolved processes ofreflexive modernization. As food production andtransformation continues to produce environmental andsocial risks, the question of just what makes foodgreen will continue to be a source of social conflict.     

Free trade and environmental economics

In this paper, I argue that there is no essential inconsistency between a well-constructed free trade policy and environmental sound development. From an examination of the concept of free trade, I argue that free trade must mean environmentally sustainable trade. The argument is conceptual in nature. I argue that free trade must mean trade free of subsidies in which the price of a good fairly reflects the costs of its production. I then argue that environmentally unsustainable commodity trade is in fact subsidized. Therefore, the international regulation of this trade would be consistent with the goal of free trade. Moreover, such regulation could promote both environmental conservation and the long-run interest of developing countries. However, ethical and practical considerations demand that these regulations must be structured so that they do not have a negative short-term economic impact on developing countries. A mechanism to implement this policy is suggested.Notes 1. Work on this project was funded by a grant from George Mason University's International Institute.     

Close encounters with a CSA: The reflections of a bruised and somewhat wiser anthropologist

This essay tells a story. It is a story of the author's experience with community supported agriculture (CSA). It is also a story that depicts the difficulties of academic activism and grass-roots engagement. As an academic and an activist, the author argues that it is important to admit and share experiences that are less than perfect, since they are the basis for a more complete knowledge and a more organic existence, individually, collectively, sensually, and intellectually.     

A discourse on Forestry science

Forestry science is firmly based on the ideas of rationalization, emancipation, and progress as embedded in the Modernity Project. Its emergence in the late Seventeenth century is primarily a rationalization of timber production, although to some extend attention is given to other functions of the forest. As an applied science, forestry was preoccupied with bio-technical and economic research. The development in forestry science during the last four decades is described as a broadening of this narrow rationalization concept. Social and ecological dimensions of forestry are acknowledged as legitimate and undeniable fields for forestry research. The new rationalization concept is not yet operationalized, but encompasses besides economic efficiency also equity and ecological sustainability. Since the narrow rationalization concept resulted in irrational outcomes, the new concept of sustainable development might be characterized as a rationalization of the Modernity Project. As a critical counterpoint to this mainstream forestry thinking, a Non-modern Project is emerging. Indigenous forestry as an ethnoscience points at the cultural and philosophical biases still underlying professional forestry and forestry science.Laurent Umans worked as associate lecturer at the Department of Forestry, Agriculture University Wageningen, The Netherlands. Currently he is working for the Food and Agricultural Organization as an associate expert forestry development in the Hill Leasehold Forestry and Forage Development Project in Nepal. He published on the themes forestry and economic development and indigenous forestry.     

Gender, land, and water: From reform to counter-reform in Latin America

Rural women did not fare very well inthe land reforms carried out during the Latin Americanreformist period of the 1960s and 1970s, with womenbeing under-represented among the beneficiaries. It isargued that women have been excluded from access toand control over water for similar reasons that theywere excluded from access to land during thesereforms. The paper also investigates the extent towhich women have gained or lost access to land duringthe counter-reforms of the 1980s and 1990s. Underthe neo-liberal agenda, production cooperatives aswell as communal access to land have largely beenundermined in favor of privatization and theindividual parcelization of collectives. Significantland titling efforts are also being carried outthroughout the region to promote the development of avigorous land market. This latter period has also beencharacterized by the growth of the feminist movementthroughout Latin America and a growing commitment bystates to gender equity. The paper reviews the extentto which rural womens access to land and, thus, waterhas potentially been enhanced by recent changes inagrarian and legal codes.     

Towards science-based techniques in agriculture

Because of their being science-based and because they have sparked off an extended debate on how technologies are conceived and developed, biotechnologies represent a particularly useful point of departure for a more general discussion about the evolution of agricultural techniques, as regards the origin and the distinguishing characteristics of different forms of knowledge and know-how.This article seeks to discuss how knowledge from different sources (agricultural, industrial, and scientific) on the one hand, and how the abstract and concrete elements that enter into the knowledge acquisition process, on the other hand, come together and become linked as determinants of different technical paths of development. The growing recourse to biotechnologies tends progressively to modify the common knowledge base mobilized for agro-food production. Even though at present the development of biotechnologies seems to be set in a model of continuity in relation to the current techniques, their full potential could express itself in redefining the relations between Man and Nature, ultimately reconciling the production of agricultural consumer goods and the reproduction of the agro-ecosystems.     

Converting or not converting to organic farming in Austria:Farmer types and their rationale

Reasons for converting to organic farming have been studied in a number of instances. However, the underlying rationale that motivates the behavior is not always made clear. This study aims to provide a detailed picture of farmers decision-making and illustrate the choice between organic and conventional farm management. Based on 21 interviews with farmers, a decision-tree highlighting the reasons and constraints involved in the decision of farmers to use, or not to use, organic production techniques was formulated. The accuracy of the decision-tree was tested through a written survey of 65 randomly sampled farmers. The decision-tree permits the identification of decision criteria and examines the decision-making process of farmers in choosing their farming method. It also allows for the characterization of farmer strategies and values, identifying five types of farmers: the committed conventional; the pragmatic conventional; the environment-conscious but not organic; the pragmatic organic; and the committed organic. The importance of taking into account heterogeneity in farmers attitudes, preferences, and goals and their impact on the choice of a farming method is emphasized.Ika Darnhofer is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Economics at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna. She received both her MSc and PhD in Agricultural Economics from the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna, working on issues of agricultural development in Africa. Her current research interests include economic and sociological analyses of factors that shape farmers land use decision-making behavior, with a particular focus on organic farming.Walter Schneeberger is a Full Professor of Farm Business Management and Head of the Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Economics at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna. His current research interests include the economics of producing and processing agricultural products and farm business management for both conventional and organic farms.Bernhard Freyer is a Full Professor of Organic Farming and Head of the Institute of Organic Farming of the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna. His work on organic farming focuses on its agronomic aspects (plant cultivation, crop rotations, and soil fertility) as well as on the analysis of conversion to organic farming (planning process, farm development) and its potential for regional development.     

Legitimizing local knowledge: From displacement to empowerment for third world people

Increasing attention has been given to indigenous knowledge in Third World rural societies as a potential basis for sustainable agricultural development. It has been found that many people have functional knowledge systems pertaining to their resources and environment, which are based on experience and experimentation, and which are sometimes based on unique epistemologies. Efforts have been made to include such knowledge in participatory research and projects. This paper discusses socio-political, institutional, and ethical issues that need to be considered in order to understand the actual limitations and contributions of such knowledge systems. It reviews the nature of local knowledge and suggests the need to recognize its unique values yet avoid romanticized views of its potential. Local knowledge and alternative bottom-up projects continue to be marginalized because of the dominance of conventional top-down R&approaches, pressures of agrochemical firms, scientific professionalism, and for other political-economic reasons. It is argued that the exploitation of local knowledge by formal institutions should be avoided; instead, people need to establish legitimacy of their knowledge for themselves, as a form of empowerment.Lori Ann Thrupp is presently a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of California Berkeley (in the Energy and Resources Program), pursuing work on sustainable agricultural development strategies. She received her doctoral and masters degree in Development Studies from the University of Sussex (U.K.), and her bachelors from Stanford University in Human Biology and Latin American Studies. Her interests are natural resource management, sustainable development, political ecology, agricultural technology transfer, indigenous knowledge, and environmental policy issues in developing countries. Her doctoral dissertation research was on The Political Ecology of Pesticide Use in Costa Rica, supported by a Fulbright Scholarship. She has also received grants from the National Wildlife Federation, Marshall Foundation, and Dudley Seers Fund. Her professional experiences include consulting, teaching, and research on natural resource issues and agroecology for organizations such as CATIE (a Tropical Agriculture Institute) in Costa Rica, the Pragma Corporation, USAID, the Organization of Tropical Studies, the International Institute for Environmental and Development (on a fuelwood energy project in Kenya), the Intermediate Technology Development Group, the Worldwatch Institute, Resources for the Future. She has published in both Spanish and English (including co-authorship of a book on EI Uso de los plaguicidas en Costa Rica, and co-editing a book with Robert Chambers and Arnold Pacey on Farmer First: Farmer Innovation and Agricultural Research).     

Interactions of formal and informal knowledge systems in village-based tree management in central India

This study critiques the idea of a Western science -- indigenous knowledge dichotomy in agricultural knowledge by examining the hybrid nature of knowledge use and incorporation by villagers in Madhya Pradesh, India. By analyzing knowledge systems as multi-leveled structures consisting of concrete practices linked to more abstract, explanatory concepts, this paper illustrates how information from multiple sources is integrated into local bodies of knowledge about tree management. Practices such as urea fertilization from formal global science might be explained by concepts such as that of a hot/cold duality from informal folk science. Similarly, other pieces of knowledge stemming from diverse knowledge systems are shown to become mixed and matched on practical and conceptual levels. Additionally, several knowledge elements used locally appear to be held in common by many knowledge systems around the world, rendering the determination of their origins in one system or another nearly impossible. These observations lead to the conclusion that local knowledge systems of tree management are better characterized as open systems rather than distinct, closed systems. Furthermore, the constant exchange of material between formal and informal, local and global systems renders untenable any strict dichotomy of knowledge systems.