The transnational origin, diffusion, and transformation of “organic” agriculture: A study in social movement framing and outcomes

Joshua J Frye, Purdue University

Abstract

Social movements are dynamic processes that are important to study because of their positive and negative impacts on individuals, governments, nations, and the world. They are at once socially, politically, and rhetorically complex. Scholars have studied social movements from a variety of perspectives and disciplinary approaches including historical, sociological, political, and rhetorical. Although no single theoretical approach can encompass the entirety of social movements, interdisciplinary approaches allow for broader scope and richer theoretical explanatory power. The overall goal of this study is to develop a new theoretical approach to understanding social movements and apply it to the transnational organic agriculture movement to better understand leadership framing processes and outcomes. This study bridges sociological and rhetorical theory to better understand strategic framing processes, social movement leadership, and movement outcomes. To date, no research has chronicled and theoretically explained the movements of the organic frame and organic rhetoric from India to Europe to the United States and from embedded cultural practices to contested national legislation by keying in on the rhetorical agency of primary leadership figures and organized political petitioning. This study examines the transnational diffusion of the organic frame from India to England to the United States and analyzes the transformation of the organic frame as it was imported to different sociopolitical and sociocultural contexts. It does so by focusing on three critical framing events in the history of the organic agriculture movement. First, the study examines the origins of the organic frame as it emerged in India and was imported to England in the early twentieth century by Sir Albert Howard. Next, the study analyzes the diffusion and transformation of the organic frame as J.I. Rodale framed an organic program for the United States in the mid-twentieth century. Then, the study analyzes a third critical framing event involving a frame dispute between the USDA and a coalition of organic agriculture movement organizations in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The study concludes that Howard's seminal text on organic agriculture was an exemplar of social movement leadership framing because it included the dual purpose of creating a new way of approaching agriculture and serving as a manual for action. Sir Albert Howard successfully led the transnational diffusion of organic agriculture by blending eastern and western beliefs and practices, his committed cross-cultural promoting of a holistic agriculture, and attacking processes and forces rather than individuals or institutions. J. I. Rodale met rhetorical problems strategically by transforming the organic frame in ways that functioned to help transform American attitudes toward the soil and health. The study also revealed that in the late twentieth century the U.S. organic agriculture movement was politically-savvy, able to influence the national legislative agenda as well as its content. This study demonstrates the useful linkages between sociological frame analysis and the rhetorical theory of functional social movement persuasion by discovering that the core framing tasks of diagnosis and prognosis are largely composed of praise and blame as well as transforming individuals' perceptions of reality and that motivational framing and Burke's theory of identification provide another useful conceptual hybrid between sociological and rhetorical social movement theory.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Stewart, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Communication|Agriculture|Organizational behavior|Organization theory

COinS