permaculture

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Karl S North <knorth@binghamton.edu>
Date: Sun, Nov 6, 2016 at 11:15 AM
Subject: Re: [SANET-MG] Agroecology “Lite:” Cooptation and Resistance in
the Global North
To: sanet-mg@googlegroups.com


Kris,

Yes, please share. Thanks for asking.

I have seen agroecology scientific work in Mexico, Brazil and Cuba that is
far in advance of anything in the US. That is partly because in other
countries the scientific tradition is more likely to take a macroscopic,
systems view of phenomena that they study. In all applied sciences like
agriculture, that must mean taking seriously the fact that human society is
part of larger natural systems and must obey the laws of those systems -
the laws of energy and matter (known as the laws of thermodynamics) and
concepts like carrying capacity that govern the health and even survival of
all living systems. That means grounding all applied sciences in a
disciplined understanding of ecosystem science - how the ecosystems we live
in work as wholes.  Just a few examples of a macroscopic approach are the
ways of doing science pioneered by Darwin, Odum, Marx and even political
economists of classical liberalism like and John Stuart Mill and Adam
Smith. Such holistic methods are  now for generations embedded in
scientific tradition in other countries, but cherry-picked or avoided like
the plague in the US because sooner or later inquiry through any
macroscopic lens reveals flaws in capitalism that are fundamental because
they ignore how the world really works. Science has been corrupted
everywhere to a degree, but nothing like as bad as in the US.

Karl

On Sun, Nov 6, 2016 at 12:10 AM, Kris Johnson RR <cjohnson143@woh.rr.com>
wrote:

> Karl,
> May I share your comments with our Ohio OEFFA group -
> http://www.oeffa.org/?
> Kris
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Karl S North <knorth@binghamton.edu>
> *To:* sanet-mg@googlegroups.com
> *Sent:* Friday, November 04, 2016 3:55 PM
> *Subject:* [SANET-MG] Agroecology “Lite:” Cooptation and Resistance in
> the Global North
>
> ​​https://foodfirst.org/agroecology-lite-cooptation-and-
> resistance-in-the-global-north/
>
> This piece really hits the nail on the head. The alternative ag movement
> in the US should take its message as seriously as any agronomic challenge
> for the future of the food system.
>
> Snips:
>
> The political dimension of agroecology is problematic in the Global
> North—particularly in the United States—because challenging the root causes
> of industrial agriculture’s socio-environmental destruction implies
> challenging capitalism itself.
>
> The northern arena of agroecological debate is dominated by an eclectic
> soup of apolitical narratives (read: avoiding the subject of capitalism),
> largely promoted by consumers and academics, global institutions, big NGOs
> and big philanthropy. This institutional camp uses a variety of terms
> (sustainable intensification, climate-smart agriculture, diversified
> farming systems, etc.) to promote a reformist definition of agroecology as
> a set of additional tools to improve everyone’s toolbox. Big, small,
> organic, conventional… will all get along better with a little more
> agroecology.
>
> Everyone claiming to be an "agroecologist" I have met who has trained in a
> landgrant institution and claims to be politically aware is actually
> woefully ignorant in my view, usually for three reasons: 1)  Landgrant
> training programs do not consider the study of the political economy of
> agriculture as necessary to a Phd program, and in fact avoid it like the
> plague, 2) Students don't have awareness or the courage to seek out the few
> radical political economists to learn from in these institutions, 3)
> Students are afraid such training will damage their careers.
>
> My advice to prospective agroecologists: train with someone like Altieri
> who knows better that to try to teach in a landgrant university, or study
> agroecology in a country in the global south, at EcoSur in San Cristobal de
> las Casas in Chiapas, Mexico, for example.
>
> --
> Karl North -  http://karlnorth.com/
> "Pueblo que canta no morira" - Cuban saying
> "They only call it class warfare when we fight back" - Anon.
> "My father rode a camel. I drive a car. My son flies a jet-plane. His son
> will ride a camel."
>  —Saudi saying
>
>