Science of back to nature USA
Posted: 28 Oct 2022, 12:15
Biology and Beyond: The Science of “Back to Nature” Farming in the United States
Mrill Ingram
Abstract
Organic farming, biodynamic farming, and other alternative approaches to agriculture are often described in spatial terms such as “close to,” “going back to,” and “following” nature, and correspondingly represent a production process that is ineluctably local, farmer-led, and relies on minimal external inputs, especially in terms of science and technology. In contrast to this representation, however, this article argues that going back to nature is, and has been, a scientific process. An examination of the development of several key ideas in alternative agriculture reveals the participation of scientists and the pursuit of scientific research resulting in a diverse range of society-nature relationships and agricultural technologies. By applying Bruno Latour's circulatory model of scientific work to the endeavors of people involved in U.S. alternative agriculture, I show how networks of people involved in alternative agriculture, like scientific disciplines, have produced “immutable mobiles,” or ideas that travel across time and space, and have made control of knowledge as much a focus as control of crop production. This investigation seeks to contribute to current analyses of the rise of the organic agriculture movement and more broadly to our understanding of the dynamics of alternative groups and the generation of alternative ideas. Latour's model proves effective for analyzing the mechanisms through which new knowledge is generated, even outside conventional academic disciplines. Deploying this model within a context of power, particularly Foucault's ideas about discourse, is necessary to evaluate why some ideas prove more successful than others.
Mrill Ingram
Abstract
Organic farming, biodynamic farming, and other alternative approaches to agriculture are often described in spatial terms such as “close to,” “going back to,” and “following” nature, and correspondingly represent a production process that is ineluctably local, farmer-led, and relies on minimal external inputs, especially in terms of science and technology. In contrast to this representation, however, this article argues that going back to nature is, and has been, a scientific process. An examination of the development of several key ideas in alternative agriculture reveals the participation of scientists and the pursuit of scientific research resulting in a diverse range of society-nature relationships and agricultural technologies. By applying Bruno Latour's circulatory model of scientific work to the endeavors of people involved in U.S. alternative agriculture, I show how networks of people involved in alternative agriculture, like scientific disciplines, have produced “immutable mobiles,” or ideas that travel across time and space, and have made control of knowledge as much a focus as control of crop production. This investigation seeks to contribute to current analyses of the rise of the organic agriculture movement and more broadly to our understanding of the dynamics of alternative groups and the generation of alternative ideas. Latour's model proves effective for analyzing the mechanisms through which new knowledge is generated, even outside conventional academic disciplines. Deploying this model within a context of power, particularly Foucault's ideas about discourse, is necessary to evaluate why some ideas prove more successful than others.