Short Abstract

This panel explores the role of infrastructure in the deployment of agroecology. The aim is to gather presentations discussing how infrastructures historically built for intensive, input-based agriculture impede efforts towards agroecology and/or how alternative practices transform infrastructures.

Description

Modern agriculture relies heavily on a wide range of infrastructures, including farming technologies, farm equipment and architecture, rural areas layout, supply and value chains organisation, research institutes dedicated to supporting farmers, the rules and regulations governing practices, sector funding etc. In the context of growing support for agroecology, the role of such infrastructures is ambivalent. On the one hand, they appear as crucial sites of action for making the sector more environmentally friendly. On the other hand, as agricultural production largely relies on infrastructures inherited from the past, which were built for intensive, input-based farming, they may hinder transition efforts. This panel seeks to gather contributions applying the theoretical framework of Infrastructure Studies (Bowker and Star, 1999) to the study of agroecological transitions. Rather than focusing on the characteristics of technologies or the process by which they are adopted by users, this approach considers the diversity of practices and/or devices that enable technologies to emerge, making them inextricably linked to social organisations. As mentioned above, we adopt a broad interpretation of the concept of infrastructure and consider material, immaterial, and commercial infrastructures. We are looking for papers focusing on the role of infrastructures in the deployment of agroecology. They may address two main questions. Firstly, how are alternative practices or technologies impeded by existing agricultural infrastructures? Conversely, how do transition efforts lead to the creation of new infrastructures or the redesign of existing ones? Papers may focus on a variety of topics, such as the withdrawal of inputs, technical innovations and alternative farming practices, and may address a range of infrastructure-related issues, such as logistics chains, marketing channels and regulations. Our ambition is to generate presentations and rich discussions that explore the diversity of infrastructural transformations made necessary by the widespread adoption of agroecology.

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