Capitalism in Green Disguise: The Political Economy of Organic Farming in the European Union

Charalampos Konstantinidis

No 2014_01, Working Papers from University of Massachusetts Boston, Economics Department

Abstract: Organic farming is often presented as the success story of Rural Development policies in the European Union, having grown from a marginal activity to one covering more than 5% of European agricultural land. Even though organic farming is often thought of as small-scale farming, I show that organic farms in Europe display characteristics associated with capitalist agriculture. Organic farms are larger and more mechanized than conventional farms. Furthermore, organic farms are associated with wage-labor and use less labor per hectare than their conventional counterparts, casting doubt on the efficacy of organic farming in increasing labor demand in marginalized communities and acting as an effective tool for keeping rural residents in the countryside. These results present us with evidence of the “conventionalization†of organic farming, and with a significant case of “green-washing†of capitalist structures of production.

Keywords: political economy; organic farming; agriculture; European Union (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B5 O13 P16 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 44 pages
Date: 2014-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-pke and nep-pol
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Related works:
Journal Article: Capitalism in Green Disguise: The Political Economy of Organic Farming in the European Union (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mab:wpaper:2014_01

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