April 20, 2022 3-4 pm ET

Presented by Dr. Lia Kelinsky-Jones
Civic Science Fellow, Agora Institute, Johns Hopkins University

Agroecology is a systems-based agenda for food system transformation towards human and planetary health. Agroecology combines agricultural and social sciences with participatory practices, including the co-production of knowledge between scientists and farmers. However, research indicates the social science of agroecology may be less commonly employed among agricultural scientists, which diminishes its possibilities for effecting social change. To address this gap, Dr. Kelinsky-Jones will discuss the social science of agroecology by focusing on both policy for agroecology and agroecology for policy. For the former, Dr. Kelinsky-Jones will briefly discuss her research on how the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) policy influences agroecological possibilities at sampled land-grant universities. To attend to agroecology for policy, she will provide a short overview of a science policy outreach project where our team employed an agroecological lens to develop policy possibilities for climate-resilience in Southwest Virginia. The aim of this presentation is to generate an open dialogue with participants on their questions, perceptions, and use of agroecology through a social science lens, including its possibilities for policy and community development practice.

Contact Garland Mason with any questions or concerns by emailing garlandm@vt.edu 

Loading player for https://video.vt.edu/media/Dr.+Lia+Kelinsky-Jones+presents+The+Social+Science+of+AgroecologyA+Policy+and+Praxis+Implications/1_kssxwu58...
*
Dr. Lia Kelinsky-Jones_Social Sci. Agroecology.pdf A copy of Dr. Lia Kelinsky-Jones' slide deck. See the final three slides for references cited. (Note: Slide #8 has been updated).
Download File

References mentiond during the Q&A session (in order of mention):

“Gliessman’s Five Levels” referring to:
Gliessman, S. (2016). Transforming food systems with agroecology. Agroecology and sustainable food systems, 40(3), 187-189. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21683565.2015.1130765

Via Campesina: https://viacampesina.org/en/

4 the Soil: https://www.4thesoil.org/

Maywa Montenegro de Wit, PhD, University of California Santa Cruz: https://envs.ucsc.edu/faculty/index.php?uid=mamonten

Marcia Delonge, PhD, Union of Concerned Scientists: https://www.ucsusa.org/about/people/marcia-delonge

Coolsaet, B. (2016). Towards an agroecology of knowledges: Recognition, cognitive justice and farmers’ autonomy in France. Journal of Rural Studies, 47, 165-171. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0743016716301449

Boaventura de Sousa Santos, PhD, University of Coimbra (Portugal): http://www.boaventuradesousasantos.pt/pages/en/homepage.php

Bendfeldt, E., McGonagle, M., & Niewolny, K. (2021). Rethinking farmer knowledge from soil to plate through narrative inquiry: An agroecological food systems perspective. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 11(1), 137-151. Available at https://foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/1035/1006

Montenegro de Wit, M. and A. Iles. 2016. Toward Thick Legitimacy: Creating a Web of Legitimacy for Agroecology. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene. 4: 000115. (open access)

Fraser, J. A. (2017). Laws of the field: rights and justice in development-oriented agronomy. In J. Sumberg (Ed.), Agronomy for development: The politics of knowledge in agricultural research (pp. 136–149). Routledge.