2020/02/29 by Ivan Dufeu, Ronan Le Velly, Jean‐Pierre Bréchet +2 · 1 citation
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Business, Management and Accounting · Social Sciences · #French Urban and Social Studies #Global trade, sustainability, and social impact #Organic Food and Agriculture
paper · doi:10.1111/soru.12298
openalex publication_date 2020/02/29 · openalex created_date 2020/03/06 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
Abstract 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.