Situated knowledges, science and gender: A sociology of organic agriculture in Australia and New Zealand

Dominant systems of food provision - reliant upon synthetic inputs and capital intensive machinery - have led to a host of adverse social and environmental impacts. The form that more sustainable agricultural systems might take, and how the transition to these might be made, has been much debated in recent years. Amongst this debate, organic (chemical-free) agriculture has been heralded as the basis for more environmentally and socially just systems of food provision. While remaining marginal in size relative to conventional agriculture, increasing interest by both producers and consumers in organic food and agriculture worldwide has sparked rapid growth within this industry in recent decades. Australia and New Zealand are no different, with organics gaining increasing importance throughout both the domestic and international market. Within this context, this thesis examines the situated knowledges of women and men organic producers engaged in the organic agriculture movement across Australia and New Zealand, in order to gain an understanding of their contributions in shaping the trajectory of this industry growth. This theoretical approach provides a framework to examine the gendered - social and cultural - relations that shape the production of knowledge claims. In order to address this research problem, in depth face to face interviews were undertaken with 43 men and 30 women organic producers throughout both Australia and New Zealand, as well as a number of industry representatives. The collection of data related to producers' gendered subjectivities via this method enabled a rich and detailed understanding of the experiences of those involved in the organic industry, thereby contributing to the rural sociological literature that has examined this industry.