organic farming and rural transformations in the european union

190 Pages·2012·1.3 MB·English

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Open Access Dissertations
9-2012
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Charalampos Konstantinidis
University of Massachusetts Amherst
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ORGANIC FARMING AND RURAL
TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION:
A POLITICAL ECONOMY APPROACH
A Dissertation Presented
by
CHARALAMPOS KONSTANTINIDIS
Submitted to the Graduate School of the
University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
September 2012
Department of Economics
(cid:13)c Copyright by Charalampos Konstantinidis 2012
All Rights Reserved
ORGANIC FARMING AND RURAL
TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION:
A POLITICAL ECONOMY APPROACH
A Dissertation Presented
by
CHARALAMPOS KONSTANTINIDIS
Approved as to style and content by:
James K. Boyce, Co-chair
Mwangi wa Githinji, Co-chair
Krista Harper, Member
Michael Ash, Department Chair
Department of Economics
In the memory of my grandfathers, Charalampos and Stratos
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Writing a dissertation is usually a long and painful process. However, in my
experience, it wasn’t always a lonely one. I feel the need to thank the people who
made this journey easier (and joyful at times).
Co-directed dissertation projects sometimes turn into battlegrounds. I was fortu-
nate not to have this experience, while working under Mwangi wa Githinji and Jim
Boyce. In my third year I did an independent study on ecological Marxism with
Mwangi; at that time, I knew I found a co-chair for my dissertation. Over the years,
Mwangi has kept encouraging me to find my own voice, while thinking about the
larger picture. His collegiality has been a real lesson for me. Jim Boyce added his
vast knowledge on a series of topics, while showing me the power of explaining com-
plicated ideas as simply as possible. I thank them both for being great co-chairs.
Furthermore, I need to thank Krista Harper for her willingness to step in and work
with me at a particular difficult stage of the way, after Julie Graham’s passing. Julie,
who served as an outside member in the earlier stage of this thesis, showed me that
even seemingly minor changes can constitute significant challenges to the way we
conduct economic activity and to the way we think about it. I hope she’d be satisfied
with the result of the work.
Beyond my committee members, I was fortunate to have a series of great teachers
at UMass. Michael Ash generously gave me thoughtful comments to a series of
drafts and to innumerable presentations at the Environmental Working Group. His
enthusiasm and his approach to statistical analysis have been lessons I take with
me. Furthermore, Rick Wolff and Steve Resnick’s groundbreaking work on Marxism
provided me with a suitable language for many of the things that I wanted to write.
v
Eileen Atallah, Nicole Dunham, Chris Evans, Connie Milne, and Nancy Nash have
been the unsung heroes of much of the work that is conducted at UMass. Judy Dietel
deserves extraordinary mention for her kindness and her generosity.
The Political Economy Research Institute’s dissertation fellowship allowed me to
leavetheUSforasemesterinordertoconductfieldwork. Furthermore,thehospitality
oftheInstituteforOrganicFarmingattheUniversita¨tfu¨rBodenkulturinVienna,and
especially of Christian Vogl, allowed me to learn about Greece by studying Austria.
I need to thank a series of people for their friendship, their insights, and their
willingness to engage in heated arguments over economics and politics, directly or
indirectly related to this thesis: Emir Benli, Rajesh Bhattacharya, Jessica Carrick-
Hagenbarth, Michael Carr, Hasan Comert, Geert Dhondt, Lauren Handley, Shaun
Lamory,PhilipMellizo,JosephRebello,CaseyStevens,JooYeounSuh,HasanTekguc,
Yorghos Tripodis, and Nikolas Zirogiannis. Andy Barenberg, Amit Basole, Jen Co-
hen, and Ian J. Seda-Irizarry deserve special thanks for being true comrades since we
all arrived in Amherst in the summer of 2005.
On countless occasions, Stefanos Nikolopoulos has shared his insights from his
30-year experience in the Greek countryside and has come to be a major influence in
how I think about food and agriculture. Andriana Vlachou has been a true mentor.
I consider my work to be drawing from Andriana’s in many different ways. Further-
more, I would like to thank her for showing me how to be unwavering and relevant,
even when working in a hostile environment. Despite the geographical distance, my
parents, Georgios Konstantinidis and Maria Fotaki, and my sister, Spyridoula Kon-
stantinidi, have always been present for me with their love and their encouragement.
Last but not least, I want to thank Leila Davis for her support and her sharp criti-
cisms of my work. Leila has encouraged me to seek out the substance in what I write,
and not to pull any punches when necessary. I thank her, and I hope I can reciprocate
as she is writing her own dissertation.
vi
ABSTRACT
ORGANIC FARMING AND RURAL
TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION:
A POLITICAL ECONOMY APPROACH
SEPTEMBER 2012
CHARALAMPOS KONSTANTINIDIS
B.A, ATHENS UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS
M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
Directed by: Professor James K. Boyce and Professor Mwangi wa Githinji
This dissertation investigates the impact of organic farming for achieving the en-
vironmental and social objectives of sustainability in Europe over the past 20 years.
Organic farming is considered the poster child of rural development in Europe, of-
ten seen as a model of the integration of small-scale production with environmental
considerations. Since this model runs counter to the logic of developing capitalist
structures in agriculture, I revisit the Marxian predictions regarding the “agrarian
question”. Furthermore, I trace the discursive changes in support of small-scale pro-
duction in the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and assess whether small
farms have improved their situation under the revised CAP.
Subsequently, I use statistical analysis in order to assess the socio-economic and
the environmental consequences of the rise in organic farming. Contrary to what is
often assumed, organic farms in Europe display larger average sizes and lower rates
vii
of labor intensity than their conventional counterparts, casting doubts on the efficacy
of organic farms to allow family farmers to remain in the countryside as high-value
producers. I argue that this this development should be viewed as further evidence of
the “conventionalization” of organic farming. In order to explain the process which
led to such an outcome, I proceed to explain the different ways through which organic
farms could overcome traditional problems which impeded the capitalist development
ofagriculture. Regardingtheenvironmentalimplications,Ievaluatetheriseoforganic
farming by assessing its impact for different countries’ overall pesticide and fertilizer
intensity. My results are mixed, with higher organic shares being correlated with
decreased application of fertilizer, but less significant results for pesticide intensity.
Finally, Ipresentevidencefromqualitativeworkconductedin2010inruralGreece
which points to the absence of well-established networks among organic producers,
and between them and other actors in the chain of distribution. Small producers
who switch to organic methods appear unable to reap the benefits from the higher
prices and the institutional support for organic farming. Hence, it is larger enterprises
which dominate the organic sector. I also examine the role of certification agencies,
as a prime recipient of surplus transfers, and question the safeguards of organic en-
terprises against recent developments in agricultural labor relations, which are highly
exploitative of immigrant labor.
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CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................. v
ABSTRACT......................................................... vii
LIST OF TABLES ................................................... xii
LIST OF FIGURES..................................................xiv
CHAPTER
1. INTRODUCTION ................................................. 1
1.1 A world in crisis..................................................1
1.2 Organic farming and the reorganization of European agriculture ........4
1.3 Political economy.................................................5
1.3.1 Individuals and groups ......................................5
1.3.2 Market ...................................................7
1.4 Chapter outline .................................................10
2. CAPITALISM AND AGRICULTURE ............................ 13
2.1 Introduction ....................................................13
2.2 Marx ..........................................................14
2.3 Kautsky........................................................18
2.4 Lenin ..........................................................22
2.5 Luxemburg .....................................................23
2.6 Bukharin and Preobrazhensky.....................................25
2.7 Chayanov ......................................................26
2.8 Vergopoulos ....................................................27
2.9 Bringing it all together: Theoretical remarks ........................31
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