In the face of the organised power of science, business and mainstream politics, the more diffuse but networked power of the growing food sovereignty movement is confronted with many challenges. In this book, the author focuses on only one of these: the need to transform knowledge and ways of knowing to regenerate locally controlled food systems.
The production of ecologically literate and socially just knowledge implies a radical shift from the existing top down and increasingly corporate-controlled research system to an approach which devolves more decision-making power to farmers, indigenous peoples, food workers, consumers and citizens for the production of social and ecological knowledge. The whole process should lead to the democratisation of research, diverse forms of co-inquiry based on specialist and non-specialist knowledge, an expansion of horizontal networks for autonomous learning and action, and more transparent oversight. This implies: 1) nurturing political values that emphasise more direct citizen participation in determining research agendas, regulations and policies; 2) the adoption of a learning process approach and extended peer review in the production and validation of knowledge; and 3) enabling policies that offer citizens adequate material security and time for democratic deliberation in the context of more localised food systems and economies. |
