Pragmatic principles for supporting the agroecological transition in the field: a review

Abstract

The agroecological transition of agriculture is slow despite the wealth of knowledge produced to support it. Given the complexity and uncertainty of changing situations, the deterministic approach aimed at defining ideal transition pathways to speed up the transition seems fruitless to us. Our view is that paths are made by walking, tracing a singular route that depends on the surprises that arise. However, actors are currently not equipped to march into the unknown, a march toward greater sustainability. The challenge is to equip actors to implement agroecological principles in local, changing, complex, and uncertain situations. To this end, we propose 10 principles drawn from an argued review of pragmatic philosophy and formulated on the basis of 16 years’ experience in participatory research with French farmers in agroecological transition in the Roquefort area. Pragmatic philosophy is a theory of action rooted in a democratic ideal. It offers a universal, normative and coherent framework for conducting individual, and collective inquiries to establish what is possible, what works, and what is desirable in a situation of change. The 10 pragmatic principles we propose will enable farmers, intermediaries and consumers to create sustainable production and consumption practices. They will also be useful for those who accompany them in the transition, such as advisors, researchers, sales representatives, and employees of local authorities. Pragmatism represents a paradigm shift away from the project logic and planning that currently dominate change management. Such a shift must be accompanied by in-depth education to develop the collective skills needed to envision that another world is possible, to manage complexity and uncertainty, by being able to deliberate democratically and cooperate in action.