Agencing an innovative territorial trade scheme between crop and livestock farming: the contributions of the sociology of market agencements to alternative agri-food network analysis

Ronan Le Velly () and Marc Moraine ()
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Ronan Le Velly: UMR Innovation, Univ. Montpellier, Cirad, INRAE, Montpellier SupAgro
Marc Moraine: UMR Innovation, Univ. Montpellier, Cirad, INRAE, Montpellier SupAgro

Agriculture and Human Values, 2020, vol. 37, issue 4, No 5, 999-1012

Abstract: Abstract The aim of this article is to show the relevance of the sociology of market agencements (an offshoot of actor–network theory) for studying the creation of alternative agri-food networks. The authors start with their finding that most research into alternative agri-food networks takes a strictly informative, cursory look at the conditions under which these networks are gradually created. They then explain how the sociology of market agencements analyzes the construction of innovative markets and how it can be used in agri-food studies. The relevance of this theoretical frame is shown based on an experiment aimed at creating a local trade scheme between manure from livestock farms and alfalfa grown by grain farmers. By using the concepts of the sociology of market agencements, the authors reveal the operations that are required to create an alternative agri-food network and underscore the difficulties that attend each one of these operations. This enables them to see the phenomena of lock-ins and sociotechnical transition in a new light.

Keywords: Actor–network theory; Agroecology; Alternative agri-food networks; Crop-livestock integration; Marketization; Innovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10460-020-10026-8

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