Organic Sovereignties: Struggles over Farming in an Age of Free Trade (Culture, Place, and Nature)

This first sustained ethnographic study of organic agriculture outside the United States traces its meanings, practices, and politics in two nations typically considered worlds apart: Latvia and Costa Rica. Situated on the frontiers of the European Union and the United States, these geopolitically and economically in-between places illustrate ways that international treaties have created contradictory pressures for organic farmers.Organic farmers in both countries build multispecies networks of biological and social diversity and create spaces of sovereignty within state and suprastate governance bodies. Organic associations in Central America and Eastern Europe face parallel challenges in balancing multiple identities as social movements, market sectors, and NGOs while finding their place in regions and nations reshaped by world events. Typically considered worlds apart, both Latvia and Costa Rica are geopolitically and economically in-between places. Situated on the frontiers of the European Union and the United States, they illustrate how international treaties have brought contradictory pressures for organic movements. Organic farmers in both countries build multispecies networks of biological and social diversity yet struggle to create spaces of sovereignty within state and suprastate governance bodies. Organic associations in Central America and Eastern Europe face parallel challenges in balancing multiple identities a social movements, market sectors, and NGOs, while negotiating their place in nations and regions reshaped by global transformations. This is the first ethnographic study to trace the meanings, practices, and politics of organic agriculture outside the United States, shedding light on issues critical for farmers on the margins of world powers. Book jacket Machine Generated Contents Note: Ch. One Normal And Exceptional Sovereignties -- Ch. Two We Will Simply Count The Votes -- Ch. Three Placing The Landscape -- Ch. Four Networking Diversities -- Ch. Five Cacophonous Harmonies -- Ch. Six Between Conventionalizations -- Ch. Seven Nested (in)justices. Guntra A. Aistara. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.