Engaging the productivist ideology through utopian politics

Abstract

This commentary uses Jarosz’s analysis of food security and food sovereignty discourses as a departure point for proposing a utopian politics for engagement with the current productivist ideology framing the global food system. This politics draws insight from convention theory, arguing that ideology must be recognized as a negotiated framework of social coordination that is both supported and subject to challenge by reference to ethical justifications. In order to illustrate the theoretical argument, it is applied to the context of the New Zealand agricultural sector. Rather than despair at the persistence of the productivist ideology, this commentary concludes with an exhortation to engage in performative social research facilitated through utopian perspectives, which provide a basis for critique, experimentation and alternative practice.