Suchergebnisse

This paper addresses the development of organic agriculture in the Czech Republic, which is seen as a success story among post-communist countries. The relatively short history of organic farming and specific contextual factors raises questions about the nature and meaning of Czech organic farming. The goal of this study was to find out how farmers view their own practice, interpret its symbolic value, and construct its content. This empirical study uses Q methodology aimed at the identification of the collectively-shared perspectives belonging engaged actors. Data were gathered through semi-standardized interviews with Czech farmers registered in official organic scheme. The analysis emphasized three components, which are considered as three distinct perspectives possessed by organic farmers; that is, (1) organic farming as a way of life, (2) as an occupation, and (3) as a production of food of an alternative quality compared to conventional food. Each viewpoint entails a different understanding of what organic farming means; each then—when considered together—comprises the meaning of organic agriculture in the Czech Republic. The presented classification of the farmers holding the viewpoints contributes to the ongoing theoretical discussion regarding the nature of the current organic sector, its development and potential conventionalization.

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to explain how trust in organic food is created, with regard to the subjective perspectives of consumers and the ways in which they trust in the quality of organic food. Empirical study includes qualitative analysis focused on how consumers build trust in organic food and its quality. The findings of the study challenge the assumption that organic certification can successfully operate only if consumers have an adequate amount of information about what they are buying. The article shows that consumers possess strategies that enable them to find sufficient and satisfying solutions, also in those situations in which they objectively lack the necessary knowledge. Trust plays a key role in this situation, which is based on faith.

AbstractIn this article we develop a conceptualisation of retro‐innovation, simply defined as the purposeful revival of historic practices, ideas and/or technologies, and apply this conceptualisation to the analysis of the development of the organic farming movement in the Czech Republic. Within the agricultural sector, we argue that retro‐innovation represents a critical practice, undertaken to counter modernisation trends. Retro‐innovation processes are thus often embedded within social movements. We identify four key mechanisms of retro‐innovation: reflexivity, reminiscence, revival, integration and learning. Drawing on 25 key informant interviews, we demonstrate how the growing critique of socialist collective farms in the 1980s coalesced with new policy supports in the 1990s to enable re‐learning and revival of traditional farming practices, situating organic farming approaches as the revitalisation of positive historical practices. However, as the Czech case demonstrates, the numerous options for and social memories of past innovations can lead to fragmentation of efforts and products.