Agrarian futures and normative practices: A case study of small-scale ecological farming

Abstract

This research paper investigates normative approaches to socio-ecological change through a case study of small-scale ecological farming. This paper makes the claim that a variety of normative responses and practices responding to contemporary socio-ecological crises face barriers that are internally related to the contradictions of development and market-based approaches to change. This paper will show that there are normative responses to future formations of socio-ecological relationships that arise from ecological modernism, that emphasizes technological change in agriculture such as through ‘precision agriculture’, and alternative food networks and food sovereignty, that is critical of conventional agrarian development. This paper examines these normatively based framings about agrarian futures and development, with a particular focus on practitioners in non-conventional and alternative food networks. Through in-depth semi-structured interviews with farmers, market gardeners, and other participants with knowledge and experience of the local food provisioning context in southern Manitoba, and through participant-led ‘farm walks’, this research sought to observe, examine, and contextualize the experiences and perceptions of select operators of small-scale ecological farms, and the barriers they face in practicing ecological farming.