Development, Discourse, and Agroecology: Theorizing from the South

Abstract

As agroecology gains prominence globally, its meaning is increasingly fragmented and de-politicized. There are repercussions to the global development complex adopting the term and disseminating it into local contexts. The aim of this paper is to understand what kinds of agroecology are promoted in development discourse, and how hegemonic global discourse might impact local uptake of the term. This study embarks on a critical exploration of the multifaceted concept of 'agroecology' as it is understood within agri-food development specifically. It explores the historical roots of agroecology’s emergence as a framework that problematizes the logic of the Green Revolution’s development package, which has left an enduring impact on the contemporary food system. This groundwork served as the crucial step in the Discourse Historical Approach (DHA)–– a strand of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). There has been increasing attention to the question of discourse, with several scholars calling for the usage of the CDA method to unravel the power dynamics present in the discourses around agroecology. The study builds on the political-economic and historical contexts to understand the specific discourses around agroecology in Lebanon. As explored, the ambiguity surrounding the term reflects inherently political choices, with different actors framing agroecology according to their intentions, ideologies, and value-systems.