Markets and Institutional Capacity

Adequate explanations concerning the introduction of production and consumption of organic food in Denmark imply the necessity to engage a certain understanding of markets. Markets should subsequently not be seen as entities nor places but as complex relations between human actors. Further, the establishment, maintenance and development of markets are depending on the capacity of the actors to enter into continuous and enhancing interplay

Rural-urban co-development - challenges to post-industrial society

The World Commission (1987) pointed out that sustainable development in general is a prerequisite to alleviate fatal threats to human future. In this note1 it is stated that it is necessary to return to basic concepts and reflections to ensure that the aim, means, and context are remembered when radical changes to gain sustainability are designed. In particular this is the case when humanity’s social interplay (i.e., technology) with natural life support systems is in focus. Thus, the note is founded on a restatement of basics linked to the essential challenge facing post-industrial societies. In that light it is revealed that the current reactions to the challenge are insufficient because sustainability implies radical rather than marginal changes and that the radical changes inter alia imply a new design of rural - urban co-development

Economics, Policy, and Organic Agriculture

Is organic agriculture so special that special social theories and methods are needed? The article investigates the question in two steps: First, the article address the question whether agriculture is special. Second, whether organic agriculture is special. It is concluded that from an economic point of view new research suggests that the organic sector can only be conceptualized and understood in the general social context. If the sector is analyzed as independent of general social context, it will lead to insufficient, and in worst case wrong, understandings and subsequently inadequate policy recommendations

Commons - Whose Commons? Considering conceptual approaches to rural space of production

The article takes its point of departure in current suggestions stating that the idea of ‘commons’ could be a universal and normative guideline for how to organise a part of the interplay between nature and human activity. It is stated, that the concept in contemporary discourses has a widespread spectrum of connotations and is engaged for descriptive, prescriptive, and normative purposes. The content, character and meaning thus depend on context and dimensions in focus; the point is illustrated by means of the historical Danish commons. In a consecutive investigation of implicated concepts from social sciences (‘property rights’ being the starting point) it is similarly stated that implications cannot be determined ex ante. By means of elements from institutional economics and the sociology of space, suggestions for a conceptual framework are presented as basis for more detailed studies at a lower level of abstraction. Returned to Danish farming – but now in its contemporary settings – it is concluded that the framework of commons not adequately can be copied-and-pasted into present context due to the complex interconnectivity where local agriculture have boundless prerequisites and effects

The efficiency myth

The evolution of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in EEC/EU and the evolution of the Danish agricultural policy in the last four decades can be seen as complementary. That is the case because the European community as a whole could not originally supply itself with foods while Danish agriculture could supply a market around four times the size of its domestic one. Simultaneously agricultural policies in EEC and Denmark from the late 1950s were based on the same measurement, that is efficiency, and the same means, that is industrialisation of agricultural production. This common but complementary origin is the basis for the following analysis where the aim is to reflect present double-bindings related to the CAP by means of a brief historical sketch of the evolution of Danish agriculture and agricultural policy in the 20th century

The Evolution of Organic Agriculture in Denmark

In this working paper it is the intention to outline the evolution of organic agriculture in Denmark. The paper do not claim to be a total presentation of the history but is aiming to present important milestones, actors involved, intentions and reflections of the actors, and especially to illustrate interaction between the sector labelled as “organic agriculture” and the social surroundings. Based on the findings of the OASE-project a cut off of epoches is used to structure the presentation: Grassroot pioneering, rallying by means of separation (the more excluded an focus narrowed to farming), inclusion (organic agriculture certified by government etc.), absorption (organic farming as an integrated part of established agri systems) while the present epoche is suggested as Funky Business

Økologisk landbrugspolitik virker - hvorfor og hvordan?

Nye komparative forskningsresultater viser, at politikker, der alene fokuserer på udbudssiden - sådan som landbrugsøkonomisk teori traditionelt lægger op til - ikke har optimal effekt. Derimod er der klare tegn på, at mere helhedsorienterede politikker er anderledes effektive

Landbrug og landdistrikter før og nu

Indtil for få årtier siden var landbrug den dominerende økonomiske, politiske og civilsamfundsmæssige kraft i danske landdistrikter. Med landbrugets strukturudvikling er dette billede radikalt ændrede, og landdistrikterne nu mere differentierede bl.a. afhængig af afstand til bymæssige vækstcentre. Landdistriktspolitik kan derfor ikke længere være sammenfaldende med landbrugspolitik

Økonomi, teori og økologi

I international sammenhæng er den danske økologipolitik succesfuld. Dette er en udfordring for mainstream landbrugsøkonomisk teori, fordi den tendentielt alene fokuserer på at optimere udbudssiden. Den danske politiks resultater må nemlig tilskrives en mere helhedsorienteret tilgang. At forklare dennes effekt kræver derfor et tilsvarende bredere teorigrundlag. Herunder må markedet forklares som et kompleks der omfatter relationer mellem aktører, der agerer både økonomisk, politisk og civilsamfundsmæssigt

Landbrugspolitik - virker det?

Økonomiske teorier har f.s.v. landbrugspolitik haft deres fokus på udbudssiden. Dette skyldes ikke mindst, at de er formuleret i en epoke, hvor landbrugspolitik primært handlede om at øge produktionsmængden. Derimod har vi kun begrænset viden om, hvorledes landbrugspolitik virker på efterspørgselssiden. Viden er også begrænset, når det handler om at ændre teknologi med henblik på andre faktorer end forøget produktionsmængde. Derfor udgør økologisk jordbrug fortsat en udfordring for økonomisk teori