Differentiating natures, connecting environments pragmatic sociology and the emergence of green justifications

ABSTRACT

As the environmental crisis gains pace, different strands of posthumanist theorizing have aimed to reshape the ecological conditions of human actions. This article examines ecological justifications in French pragmatic sociology, developed by Boltanski and Thévenot, situating it to discussions about materiality. The approach has proven useful for analyzing various controversies as it provides tools for examining how actors coordinate conflict situations and cope with uncertainty. However, previous studies have also raised questions about the applicability of pragmatic sociology in studying environmental problems. These discussions have revolved around the distinctiveness of ‘green’ justifications. In this article, we examine organic agriculture as a case of green critique that has brought ecology to the fore. Our analysis focuses on contestations about organic agriculture and the possibilities of novel green justifications to establish a ‘green reality test’. By combining conceptual work on justifications and empirical analysis of organic agriculture, the study underlines the key task of critically differentiating a new form of worth as meaningfully different from established forms thereof. In so doing, it also contributes to topical discussions of developing social theoretical frameworks for addressing environmental issues.

KEYWORDS:

• Posthumanism
• pragmatic sociology
• justification
• materiality
• environmental crisis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Academy of Finland: [Grant Number 312624].

Notes on contributors

Tomi Lehtimäki

Tomi Lehtimäki is postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki. He received his PhD in 2021 in sociology, with his dissertation examining the organic agriculture movement in Finland. He is currently working on a project focused on nonhuman animals, law and emotions. He is also working on the study of voluntary carbon offsetting as a form of market moralization.

Mikko J. Virtanen

Mikko J. Virtanen is a versatile sociologist with a passionate scholarly orientation and an unswerving commitment to academic teaching. His scholarly expertise extends from social theory, social science methodology, and qualitative research methods to hands-on studies of topical phenomena. Most recently, Virtanen has focused on environmental knowledge and climate marketisation, health ethics, and vaccination, along with energy markets and infrastructure, to generate original outputs of both case studies and research design building.