Title: Organic policy in Austria: greening and greenwashing

Authors: Markus Schermer

Addresses: Research Unit for Mountain Agriculture, Institute of Sociology, University Innsbruck, Universitätsstrasse 15, Innsbruck A-6020, Austria

Abstract: Within the EU Austria is in the vanguard of the development of organic farming, with more than 10% of farms and land under organic management. Austria therefore provides an excellent example of what happens when organic production becomes an accepted mainstream mode of farming. This raises key questions about how agricultural policy actors and market actors react to this growth. Does the increasing share of organic production substantially change the future direction of agricultural and policy development? Or is the growth of the organic sector mainly instrumental, allowing policy and market actors to communicate a positive image while at the same time ramifying conventional approaches?

Keywords: ecological modernisation; institutional development; organic agriculture; organic growth; policy development; Austria; organic farming; agricultural policy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJARGE.2008.016978

International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, 2008 Vol.7 No.1/2, pp.40 - 50

Published online: 03 Feb 2008 *

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