Ivey Business School, Western University, Canada

Battling Magic: Maintenance and Enchantment in a Biodynamic CSA

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Abstract

This study investigates the role of a novel organizational form in maintaining the institution of regenerative agriculture against the pressures to conform to more industrial practices. Using an ethnographic methodology (interviews, field observations, and archival data), we qualitatively follow a biodynamic CSA’s growing season over four months during a period of significant crisis with the introduction of a new farmer. The analysis includes themes around how the organization framed the problem with the dominant institution, leveraged their differentiated form, and legitimated itself with external actors to gain recognition. At a more micro-level, I also closely examined different groups within the membership that had similar motivations and ways of participating. I inductively find four heterogenous groups that differ in their attachment to rational decision-making (disenchantment) on one hand and spirituality on another (enchantment). Through this, we establish how even intentionally cooperative organizations can face crisis periods especially during a radical shift that makes members question their role and the organization itself. This study also provides timely implications for related contexts, particularly the revival of craft and sustainable modes of production, and collective organizing.

Biography

Rosalie Luo is a third-year Ph.D. candidate in Sustainability (General Management) at Ivey Business School, Western University. Her research interests lie at the intersection of organizational theory, social and environmental issues, and collective organizing. She mainly uses in-depth qualitative methods based in an ethnographic tradition to collect in situ data on how organizations engage in sustainability, particularly in the face of conflict. Most recently, she conducted an ethnography of one of the oldest regenerative community-supported agriculture (CSA) farms in the United States. She has also worked on the cognitive foundations of organic and biodynamic wine producers in North America. Her interest in inequality and organizations has also motivated collaborative research on the effects of corporate statements on anti-Black racism on employee-wellbeing and performance. She has a B.S. (Honors) from the University of Michigan in Earth & Environmental Sciences (natural sciences) and Environment (social sciences), where she studied the management of circular bioeconomies.