Volume 28 issue 1 (2023)

This article explores the extent to which the agricultural revolutions which took place in Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries compare with the transformation of agriculture which has taken place since the outbreak of the Second World War. It argues that the latter was considerably more revolutionary in  terms  of  the  way  scientific  and  technological  innovations  were  not  only disseminated  but,  more  importantly,  assimilated  by  the  farming  community. In  particular,  it  investigates  the  processes,  and  historical  and  organisational entanglements, which facilitated the adoption of what might be appropriately denoted as the Third Agricultural Revolution, which consists of two distinct, but interrelated, phases: the state-directed wartime food production campaign and the post-war transformation of agriculture. 

In the article, we study the interconnections of different sociotechnical systems involved in the shaping of the agricultural regime in Greece during the 20th century. Our focus is on the importance of material anchoring between different systems  in  directing  transformations  of  the  regime  and  in  configuring  the practices of historical actors towards continuation and adaptation rather than radical changes, despite the global challenges and pressures. Specifically, we argue that in the interwar period, Greece’s extant chemical industry had control of both the production of fertilizers and of the necessary raw materials, and was thus empowered to promote and legitimize policies of fertilization. Moreover, we argue that, since then, an agricultural mode of production that promoted intensification and endless productivity was determined and enshrined as the default under the influence of four entangled sociotechnical systems: the chemical industry, the mining industry, seeds, and water infrastructures (for energy and irrigation). 

This article presents a transnational history of entangled rose trade. Building on notions of sustainability telecoupling, and transnational history literature, it investigates the historical (dis)entanglement process between Kenya and the Netherlands. It aims to go beyond the common supply side focus to tell a story of transnational entanglement that integrates the demand side as well. Along four key time periods, starting in the 1920s, this paper presents the dynamic and  complex  history  of  the  formation  of  the  Dutch-Kenyan  flower  system, focusing specifically on actors (dis)entangling activities across time and space. It empathises the non-linearity and dynamic nature of human and non-human agents,  revealing  how  entanglements  are  constantly  renegotiated,  leading  to diverse and sometimes unexpected feedbacks with (dis)entangling consequences.

This article aims to analyse how the growing deforestation trends generated a catastrophic socio-environmental imaginary combining traditional and modern narratives. This article maintains that this ever-increasing narrative served as a springboard to mobilise environmental criticism from opponents of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Increased forest fires recorded in recent years in key biodiversity hotspots such as the Amazon, Cerrado, and Pantanal biomes also fed into this narrative. In particular, the so-called “Fire Day,” promoted by Bolsonaro followers to clear areas for pasture and soybean planting, confirmed the adoption of fire as a political tool. Zooming into the example of soybean monocultures, this  article  interweaves  historical  sources,  scientific  papers,  and  journalistic investigations to understand how the advancement of the soybean frontier in Brazil plays a central role in the projection of catastrophic events—certainly one of the most dangerous challenges characterising the Anthropocene.

This article explores the relationship between economic geology—the science of finding and appraising subsoil resources—and the extractive industries in the twentieth century. By focusing on the case of copper mining, the article unearths how and why economic geology gained a central position in mining activities in the early twentieth century that hitherto used amateur notions of valuing and measuring mining reserves. The article argues that economic geology was seminal in building a new expansive, capital-intensive, and multinational copper mining industry, as it enabled firms to scrutinize in detail mining reserves and link business strategies and long-term planning to the ability to read future mining yields. In addition, new technologies revolutionized mining prospecting, such as geophysical and aerial prospection. The breakthrough of new technologies and expertise allowed for the institutionalization of this scientific discipline within the  mining  industry,  akin  to  university  life  and  government  agencies,  with geologists ultimately attaining leading positions within the extractive industries.

Our article links EU-funded research for photovoltaic (PV) technologies to the material flows and geopolitics of these technologies along the entire production chain. Our entry point is the EU-funded research programmes for renewable energy  technologies  (RES)  from  1975  to  2013,  with  a  focus  on  PV.  The installation targets set in the 1997 White Paper led to the silicon (Si) crisis in PV, which reoriented EU research priorities and activities for PV. In analysing the networks’ responses to the Si crisis, we argue that geopolitics was not included in  the  PV  research  agenda  and  did  not  impact  the  networks’  responses.  We argue that although mining activities have transferred to regions in the Global South, these regions do not have access to these technologies and have been “left behind” in the transition to RES, reproducing the Global North–South divide for certain regions (e.g., Peru, Chile). However, China is becoming geopolitically empowered by accumulating control along the PV production chain, resulting in the establishment of complex geopolitical dynamics.