Agri-environmental Governance As An Assemblage: Multiplicity, Power, And Transformation (earthscan Food And Agriculture)

Prés. de l'éd.: In recent decades, the governance of the environment in agri-food systems has emerged as a crucial challenge. A multiplicity of actors have been enrolled in this process, with the private sector and civil society progressively becoming key components in a global context often described as neoliberalization. Agri-environmental governance (AEG) thus gathers a highly complex assemblage of actors and instruments, with multiple interrelations. This book addresses this complexity, challenging traditional modes of research and explanation in social science and agri-food studies. To do so, it draws on multiple theoretical and methodological insights, applied to case studies from Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. It elaborates an emergent approach to AEG practices as assemblages, looking at the coming-together of multiple actors with diverse trajectories and objectives. The book lays the foundations for an encompassing theoretical framework that transcends pre-existing categories, as well as promoting innovative methodologies, which integrate the role of social actors – including scientists – in the construction of new assemblages. The chapters define, first, the multiplicities and agencies inherent to AEG assemblages. A second set tackles the question of the politics in AEG assemblages, where political hierarchies interweave with economic power and the search for more democratic and participative approaches. Finally, these insights are developed in the form of assemblage practice and methodology. The book challenges social scientists to confront the shortcomings of existing approaches and consider alternative answers to questions about environmental governance of agri-food systems Introduction : agri-environmental governance as assemblage / Jérémie Forney, Chris Rosin and Hugh Campbell -- Assembling payments for ecosystem services in Wales / Sophie Wynne-Jones and Thomas Vetter -- Carolina dreamin' : a case for understanding farmers' decision-making and hybrid agri-environmental governance initiatives as complex assemblages / Caela O'Connell and Deanna L. Osmond -- Killing two (or more) birds with one stone : the case of governance through multifunctionality payments in Japan / Haruhiko Iba and Kiyohiko Sakamoto -- Assembling Halloumi : contesting the EU's food quality label policy in the Republic of Cyprus / Gisela Welz -- From "disciplinary societies" to "societies of control" : an historical narrative of agri-environmental governance in Indonesia / Angga Dwiartama -- Assembling value in carbon forestry : practices of assemblage, overflows and counter-performativities in ugandan carbon forestry / Adrian Nel -- Not defined by the numbers : distinction, dissent and democratic possibilities in debating the data / Karly Burch, Katharine Legun, and Hugh Campbell -- Water quality deterioration, governance, and assemblage responses in Uruguay / Diego Thompson -- The "dirty dairying" campaign in New Zealand : constructing problems and assembling responses / Ismaël Tall and Hugh Campbell -- Beyond soyisation : Donau Soja as assemblage / Dana Bentia and Jérémie Forney -- The politics of big data : corporate agri-food governance meets "weak" resistance / Michael Carolan -- Assemblage and the epistemology of practice : imagining situated water governance / Ruth Beilin Cover 1 Half title 2 Title page 4 Copyright page 5 Table of contents 6 Notes on contributors 8 1 Introduction: agri-environmental governance as assemblage 12 Part I: Assembling ontologies: multiplicities and agencies 28 2 Assembling payments for ecosystem services in Wales 30 3 Carolina dreamin': a case for understanding farmers' decision-making and hybrid agri-environmental governance initiatives as complex assemblages 49 4 Killing two (or more) birds with one stone: the case of governance through multifunctionality payments in Japan 70 5 Assembling halloumi: contesting the EU's food quality label policy in the Republic of Cyprus 87 6 From 'disciplinary societies' to 'societies of control': an historical narrative of agri-environmental governance in Indonesia 102 Part II: The politics of territorialisation 116 7 Assembling value in carbon forestry: practices of assemblage, overflows and counter-performativities in Ugandan carbon forestry 118 8 Not defined by the numbers: distinction, dissent and democratic possibilities in debating the data 138 9 Media, decentralization, and assemblage responses to water quality deterioration in Uruguay 156 10 The "dirty dairying" campaign in New Zealand: constructing problems and assembling responses 172 11 Beyond soyisation: Donau Soja as assemblage 188 Part III: Assemblage for building new AEG practices 204 12 The politics of big data: corporate agri-food governance meets "weak" resistance 206 13 Assemblage and the epistemology of practice: imagining situated water governance 224 Index 243 Agri-environmental governance has become a highly complex assemblage of actors and instruments, with multiple interrelations. This book addresses this complexity, challenging research both at the theoretical and methodological levels.