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Class Politics and Agricultural Exceptionalism in California's Organic Agriculture Movement

Author

Listed:
  • Christy Getz

    (Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at the University of California, Berkeley, cgetz@nature.berkeley.edu)

  • Sandy Brown

    (Department of Geography at the University of California, Berkeley, sandybrown@berkeley.edu)

  • Aimee Shreck

    (California State University, ashreck@mac.com)

Abstract

Opposition within the organic agriculture community to a state regulatory initiative intended to close a loophole on the prohibition of stoop labor in California agriculture illuminates critical tensions around the “labor question†underpinning California's rapidly expanding organic sector. Through an exploration of the contradictions between the political economic realities of organic agriculture, the lived realities of farm workers, and the ideological framework of “agricultural exceptionalism†espoused in the organic community, this article challenges widely held assumptions that organic agriculture embodies a more socially sustainable form of production. We conclude that these tensions must be confronted if any progress is to be made toward the incorporation of social justice into definitions of agro-food system sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Christy Getz & Sandy Brown & Aimee Shreck, 2008. "Class Politics and Agricultural Exceptionalism in California's Organic Agriculture Movement," Politics & Society, , vol. 36(4), pages 478-507, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:polsoc:v:36:y:2008:i:4:p:478-507
    DOI: 10.1177/0032329208324709
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Klonsky, Karen, 2003. "California Agriculture Dimensions and Issues: Organic Agricultural Production in California," Information Series 296906, University of California, Davis, Giannini Foundation.
    2. Timothy Vos, 2000. "Visions of the middle landscape: Organic farming and the politics of nature," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 17(3), pages 245-256, September.
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