Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Conflict in social responsibility
In considering the levels of self-determination illustrated in Figure 14.3, different types of
potential conf licts can be envisioned to emerge as stakeholders endeavour to move towards
social responsibility. The two extremes are the big brother instrumental approach and the
grassroots emancipatory approach towards social responsibility and citizen involvement. In
big brother social responsibility, conf lict is avoided or kept under the table internally, by using
'objective', rationally determined standards or norms. An abundance of social standards,
guidelines and regulations to achieve this can be cited (e.g. ILO, Fair Trade, SA8000, IFOAM
IBS chapter 8, national labour laws). After determination of the norms and standards, a range
of instruments are used for implementation or enforcement: laws, legislation, regulation,
reward and punishment schemes, (mandatory) training and instruction or financial incen-
tives. These instruments leave people little choice but to adapt the expected behaviour , if they
aspire. Conf lict might emerge internally when setting the standards and deciding on how to
implement them, but once agreed upon, any doubts about the standards are masked as much
as possible. This gives producers and consumers confidence in the reliability of the scheme.
When rules are broken, standards are either not met or are met superficially, or critiqued by
certain groups, conf lict does emerge eventually among those affected by the rules, regulations
and standards.
In grassroots social responsibility different perspectives, kinds of expertise, values and
interests converge in a consensus-seeking process in which conf lict is inevitable. Cultivating
conf lict and using conf lict as a force for conceptual change and creative problem solving is a
prerequisite for arriving at solutions that people can identify with and act upon. Ownership of
solutions is thus engendered. Social responsibility in this approach is rooted in local contexts
taking on many forms and shapes as contexts change geographically and over time. Social
responsibility develops on the edges of carefully facilitated and sometimes mediated encoun-
ters between different interests, values and world views. In an ideal social learning process, all
participants involved jointly arrive at a temporary vision of social responsibility which they
share and identify with. In the last analysis, social responsibility in this context comes more
from within, rather than from outside. There may not be consensus about everything but there
might be a renewed sense of community and interdependency, and even respect for differences
or respectful dissension (Lijmbach
et
al
. 2002) and radical democracy (Goodman and Saltman
2002). This quadrant has its f lip side. There will always be differences in knowledge bases,
access to resources, including networks and therefore inequities which lead to conf lict and
even demand more instrumental guidance and/or outside expertise, if only to help overcome
these inequities. Likewise, big brother learning has its positive side where it can make trans-
parent and transferable the values/standards necessary for certification.
Inter and intrastakeholder learning
'Bettering the condition of our farm workers shouldn't fall solely on the farmer',
says Muller, a 25-year veteran of organic farming. Everyone in the food chain needs
to adopt a sense of fairness and responsibility for the well-being of farm labourers.
It needs to be a partnership through the whole agriculture system, with wholesalers
and consumers paying fair prices that then assure that farm workers are adequately
compensated in an equitable way. The equation of greater social responsibility
needs to be integrated though the whole food system (Kupfer 2004).
When viewing the role of learning with respect to social responsibility, the levels of learning
need to be identified. Three such levels can be distinguished: micro, meso and macro. The
individual learner (i.e. the farmer) who learns from experience or from others, particularly
