Technological change in agriculture: A Marxist critique

After a critical analysis of the prevailing pattern and impact of the dominant model of intensive agricultural technology and of the Green Revolution, three different strategies for coping with current agricultural and ecological crisis are pointed out, relating to alternative forms of agricultural or social restructuring and technological development. On a theoretical level, the mainstream, deterministic conception of technology and some related approaches is rejected. Transcending structuralism and modernist Marxism, an alternative Marxist approach is proposed, which implies a dialectical, endogenous determination of technology. On a practical level, the 're-localization' argument is challenged as well as the idea that client-driven research, aiming at the development of an appropriate and environmentally compatible agricultural technology, could be effectively achieved by a market mechanism. On the contrary, it is argued that the development and application of an alternative and appropriate agricultural technology requires a wide-ranging social transformation and is primarily the task of a class conscious agricultural movement.