The politics of regenerative agriculture: looking beyond the farm gate
- Publication Type:
- Thesis
- Issue Date:
- 2025
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| Filename | Description | Size | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| thesis.pdf | thesis | 17.27 MB |
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In this thesis, I explore how the socio-political dynamics of regenerative agriculture support or hinder the transformation of the agri-food system. I consider the emergence, mobilisation, and coalescence of regenerative agriculture as a social movement, and posit its potential future pathways by applying a multi-scalar, mixed methods analysis, utilising Australia as a national case study. I situate the history of regenerative agriculture among the genealogies of other prominent sustainable agriculture approaches to highlight how it emerged through the contentions and overlaps between them. I then explore how regenerative agriculture grew from the grassroots among farmers, and demonstrate how governments, agriculture organisations, and international institutions remain largely absent from the movement. I also demonstrate how regenerative agriculture is being co-opted by corporate interests, further amplifying their dominance in the agri-food system. I then examine the extent to which regenerative agriculture might be exacerbating existing paradigms and patterns in the current neoliberal capitalist agri-food system, as it fails to grapple with issues such as Indigenous justice, land access, and diversity. I conclude that while regenerative agriculture may drive some degree of agri-food system reform, it is unlikely to challenge the socio-political patterns and structures of the current agri-food system.
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