Where the Grass Grows Again: Knowledge Exchange in the Sustainable Agriculture Movement¹

Abstract

Abstract Many analysts of sustainable agriculture have given considerable attention to issues of knowledge production, but in general they have not engaged social movement theory. This neglect is addressed by examining the emergence of intensive rotational grazing as a local expression of the sustainable agriculture movement. Conceptual frameworks drawn from recent contributions to social movement theory are used to describe the cognitive praxis of graziers along technological, cosmological, and organizational dimensions. Contrary to current interpretations, which emphasize the idiosyncratic character of local knowledge in agriculture, this analysis shows that through horizontal forms of organizing and information exchange, graziers overcome the limits of their personal experience and usefully share local knowledge in networks that they have forged expressly for that purpose.