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Discourse
coalitions and consumer understanding of organic and
pesticide free vegetables in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Brett Wyatt
Department of Geography, Faculty of Social Science, Chiang
Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand 50200. E-mail:
brettwyatt@gmail.com.
Accepted 7 December, 2009 |
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This paper will demonstrate how discourse coalitions promote
and institutionalize regulations, communicating the meanings
of certified, alternative agricultural production processes
through the labeling of vegetable produce. This analysis
introduces the concepts of discourse coalitions as a way to
evaluate the power and linkages constituting an alternative
agricultural commodity network. The actors constituting
these networks will be shown to work as coalitions of actors
promoting complementary and competing discursive strategies
which explain the role of consumer understanding in
completing the commodity network. Data for this analysis was
derived from a survey instrument used to determine the
attitudes and propensities toward the purchase of
conventional and alternative vegetables of 324 consumers in
the city of Chiang Mai, Thailand Discourse coalitions are
responsible for enacting the relationship between regulatory
practice, method of certification and labeling practices.
Effective communication of regulatory practices used in
certification can be seen by the level of trust consumers
have in the marketplaces and labeling.
Key words:
Discourse coalition, certified agricultural commodity
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