CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2019
| Author | Varga, Korinna |
|---|---|
| Title | Social Innovation in Maghaz (Seed House) Farmer Seed Network in Hungary |
| Summary | As the awareness of the threat of crop diversity loss increased in the scientific and public discourse, in the 1980s self-organized farmer seed networks were set up worldwide in order to conserve crop diversity. These grassroot networks started to challenge the ruling practice of the industrialized agriculture and they also started to shape the discourse around seed challenging its dominantly understood objectified commodity characteristics. However, the meanings associated with seed in relation to farmer seed networks have only begun to be researched. One of the first farmer seed networks in Hungary, Magház, only emerged after 2013. Their appearance was extremely significant in the country considering that their innovative activity creates the potential to spread the knowledge on agrobiodiversity to broader audiences and to challenge the dominant understandings of industrialized agriculture. Using qualitative methods, this thesis identifies a variety of meanings associated with seed in Hungary, showing that the concepts forming around seed are very rich. It emphasizes that the perspectives of a wide range of actors should also be taken into account, not only the discourse of the formal seed system. The thesis also analyses the types of social innovation achieved by Magház farmer seed network and six local communities dedicated to agrobiodiversity conservation, particularly in relation to dominant institutes. The research expands the current studies on Magház and local communities with more specific knowledge by identifying four barriers that reinforce the status of dominant structures and three opportunities that may empower the network and may help them to further achieve innovative changes that shape discourses around agrobiodiversity in Hungary. |
| Supervisor | Guntra Aistara |
| Department | Environment Sciences and Policy MSc |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2019/varga_korinna.pdf |
Visit the CEU Library.
© 2007-2021, Central European University