The fall and rise of agricultural productivism? An Antipodean viewpoint

Abstract

Much debated in the early 2000s, the productivist/post-productivist transition is revisited from an Antipodean perspective from where it was variously both strongly adopted and vigorously contested as a theorization of rural change. The context in which the terminology of productivism and post-productivism, particularly the various classes of the former, appeared is discussed. Although multifunctionalism is endorsed, the persistence of productivism, especially in nascent forms – protectionist productivism, competitive productivism and super-productivism – is noted. We argue that for an enduring research agenda on multifunctionality to emerge a truly multi-scalar conceptual schema, with accompanying revised terminology, needs to be developed.