Un terrain qui ne dit pas son nom. L’instabilité de la notion d’agroécologie et ses effets sur l’enquête

Abstract

Agroecology was first introduced in 2012 by the Minister of Agriculture, Stéphane Le Foll, as a mobilising project for French agriculture. However, no clear expectations were expressed to enable its implementation. This article considers the problematic relationship between the word “agroecology” and the very concept it designates (or doesn’t). It aims to precisely analyse the issues related to the carrying out of fieldwork in an unstable lexical context. The author shows how the investigation stumbles on the absence of the use of the term agroecology by two groups of French farmers although they are concerned by an agroecology project. The article argues that if the farmers do not use this term, it is because, put in pragmatic terms, they “care nothing about it”.

Keywords

• public policy
• agroecology
• farmer
• sociological investigation