Description
The article examines how agroecology is framed and redefined as it is translated into policy in France and the UK. It finds that agroecology is incorporated into existing policy frameworks in ways that limit its transformative potential. Existing rationalities, concepts and institutional functioning heavily influence how agroecology is defined and operationalized in policy.
Findings
There are differences in how agroecology is framed in each country, but common dependencies on existing institutional configurations and dominant ideologies shape the policy translation process. This results in a selective hybridization that strips agroecology of its more radical social and political elements.
Stats
France officially institutionalized agroecology as a national objective in its 2014 Law for the Future of Agriculture
The UK has not yet incorporated agroecology into law, but is exploring it as part of sustainable intensification efforts.