Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
elements of social responsibility. Experts, policy-makers and special interest groups have inf lu-
enced these frameworks, schemes and codes, and seek to get producers, processors and traders
to adopt them. Through information, extension, persuasion, rewards and punishment, relevant
participants can be moved to comply with the standards, norms and guidelines that have been
set. This type of learning can be categorised as instrumental (Table 14.2). It relies heavily on
the regulations and standards already in place.
Learning towards social responsibility
'Towards' suggests that while there are a constellation of ideas as to what social responsibility
entails, the lack of consensus about the implications of an exact meaning in variable contexts
prevents global prescriptions. Although there is certainly agreement about basic components
of social responsibility and social justice, more nuanced understandings and applications need
to be constructed contextually in an integrative process involving all stakeholders.
Some would argue that consensus about an ill-defined issue such as social responsibility is
undesirable from a radical democracy perspective. Radical democracy offers a way of thinking
about difference, as opposed to seeking consensus. Democracy, from this perspective, depends
on differences, dissonance, conf lict and antagonism so that deliberation is radically indeter-
minate (Goodman and Saltman 2002). In this view, the conf licts that emerge in the explora-
tion of social responsibility are prerequisites rather than barriers to reaching more sustainable
solutions. According to Chantal Mouffe (Mouffe 2002, p. 73):
We should acknowledge and valorise the diversity of ways in which the 'democratic
game' can be played, instead of trying to reduce this diversity to a uniform model
of citizenship. This would mean fostering a plurality of forms of being a
democratic citizen and creating the institutions that would make it possible to
follow the democratic rules in a plurality of ways.
Social responsibility can be seen as a process that negotiates language meanings and
cultural understandings between equal parties with equal access to the negotiating table
(Goodman and Saltman 2002). Where such equality is lacking, measures need to be taken to
overcome inequalities to create more optimal conditions for social learning. As such, social
responsibility can be viewed both as an evolving product and an engaging process. Social
responsibility as a social learning
process
deserves more attention as do the more accepted
concepts of social responsibility as an expert
pre
determined transferable
product
(i.e. as set by
a law or standard).
If the premise is accepted that there is neither a single outlook on what social responsibility
entails nor a process to achieve it, then one might also accept that determining the meaning of
social responsibility is a process that involves all kinds of stakeholders in many contexts, people
who may not agree with one another. There are different levels of self-determination, responsi-
bility, power and autonomy people can exercise while engaged in such issues or disputes. In
dealing with conf licts about how to organise, consume and produce in socially responsible
ways throughout the organic supply chain, learning does not take place in a vacuum but rather
in rich social contexts with innumerable vantage points, interests, values, power positions,
beliefs, existential needs and inequities. The amount of f lexibility that individuals have for
making their own choices, developing possibilities to act and for taking responsibility for their
thoughts and actions, varies (Wals and Jickling 2002, Wals and Heymann 2004
)
.
A continuum can be used to indicate the different levels of self-determination, self-respon-
sibility and autonomy people can exercise within social responsibility-oriented learning proc-
esses that are directly related to the individual's room to manoeuvre. Another continuum can
be distinguished, one expressing the degree of openness and the extent to which outcomes and
