Organic farming and agricultural transitions : Understanding the role of agricultural space in Halland, Sweden

This thesis aims to investigate the attitudes towards organic farming and how agricultural space is understood among organic farmers in the Swedish region of Halland and then to relate this to the ongoing discussion on multifunctional agricultural transition. The research is based on a field study o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Antonsson, Adam
Format: Others
Language:English
Published: Stockholms universitet, Kulturgeografiska institutionen 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-118713
Description
Summary:This thesis aims to investigate the attitudes towards organic farming and how agricultural space is understood among organic farmers in the Swedish region of Halland and then to relate this to the ongoing discussion on multifunctional agricultural transition. The research is based on a field study on nine different organic farms in Halland, where qualitative interviews have been conducted for the creation of the empirical results. Using the theory of planned behavior and the concept of the “good farmer”, the thesis has revealed that the organic farming community in Halland is heterogeneous and different perspectives and attitudes are expressed about organic farming and agriculture. While the farmers are driven by many aspects of organic farming, the attitudes towards agriculture are often in line with traditional productivist ideals highlighting clean fields and high yields, even though many organic farmers have started to question the traditional norms often due to the different conditions met by organic farmers. Due to the various attitudes represented, the range within the multifunctional agricultural spectrum is rather wide were some organic farmers understand agricultural space more in line with productivist ideals while others express attitudes in line with organic farming principles, suggesting a strong multifunctional understanding of agricultural space.