For land-grant universities (LGUs) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), achieving food security is a longstanding and shared priority. International agricultural development is entangled in competing imaginaries and ideological underpinnings. The coordinated social movements of food sovereignty and agroecology seek to transform local and global food systems away from the dominant neoliberal paradigm. Using localized and participatory practices, agroecology seeks to develop self-reliant communities towards more just and equitable food systems. Similarly, the current policy framework of USAID advances "The Journey to Self-Reliance" (J2SR). Yet the discourse of self-reliance reflects varied discursive meanings. The first is an alternative imaginary to develop increased community autonomy, build social support structures, and protect ecologies. The second reflects neoliberal ideology articulating notions of individual responsibility and private sector leadership. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and focus groups, this research investigated how USAID's J2SR discourse is represented, how it affects agroecological opportunities, and subsequently the impact on land-grant university food security praxis. Analytically, CDA foregrounds discursive power by investigating how texts, interpretation, and action operate as a system to maintain or contest unequal power relations. I employed focus groups with land-grant international development scholar-practitioners as a form of critical praxis. My research illustrates how USAID's self-reliance definition reproduces neoliberalism as a dominant political-economic orientation through anti-welfare rhetoric and private sector leadership. Alongside this, the J2SR discourse also actively promotes local participation and leadership. Subsequently, I contend, the discourse presents opportunities for scientific agroecology but also limits agroecology's transformative potential. A critical finding is that among sampled land grant actors, agroecology reflects epistemic complexity and competing imaginaries. Moreover, I illustrate how participants' responses to the policy corpus largely accept the embedded neoliberal ideology, while also demonstrating how some actors can use creativity to directly fund local research institutions. I contend that the creative modification observed among these actors represents the potential for land grant actors to serve as change agents and to support the agroecology movement. This research contributes to understanding how USAID frames self-reliance within their policy and where opportunities lie to challenge power structures and advance justice within international agricultural development. / Doctor of Philosophy / For land-grant universities (LGUs) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), achieving food security is a longstanding and shared priority. Despite decades of commitment, food insecurity persists reflecting the complexity of the problem. Various visions exist for how food security can be achieved. The coordinated social movements of food sovereignty and agroecology are one such vision that looks to transform the global food system away from practices deemed harmful. A critical component of agroecology is to center local community participation towards developing self-reliant communities. The current policy framework of USAID advances "The Journey to Self-Reliance" (J2SR). Self-reliance, however, is a broad term with different meanings and uses. One definition of self-reliance seeks to develop local communities around increased autonomy, with support from the government to ensure basic needs, while also protecting the environment. The second self-reliance definition focuses on supporting individual responsibility and capacity to ensure basic needs alongside private sector growth. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and focus groups, this research sought to understand how USAID's J2SR is represented in a selection of policy texts, how this representation influences agroecological opportunities, and subsequently the impact on land-grant university food security efforts. Analytically, CDA centers power in policy texts by focusing on how the interpretations and actions of actors can support or challenge systems of inequity. I used focus groups to understand the reflections and actions of land grant actors involved in international development. My research illustrates how USAID's definition of self-reliance reflects an anti-welfare sentiment alongside a focus on private sector leadership. Moreover, the policy selections also emphasized local participation and leadership which could represent a marginal shift in development power dynamics. Subsequently, I argue the J2SR makes environmental agroecology more possible than one seeking social, cultural, and political change. A key finding is how the perceptions of agroecology among sampled land grant actors represent the complexity, and at times, competition of various disciplines, values, and beliefs. Finally, from land grant participants, I illustrate how their responses to the policy corpus largely accept the embedded neoliberal ideology, while also demonstrating how some actors use creativity to increase the participation of local research institutions. This creativity, I argue, represents the potential for land grant actors to serve as change agents and to support agroecology towards fostering greater food security, equity, and justice globally. This research contributes towards an understanding of how USAID defines self-reliance and where opportunities lie to challenge unequal power relations and advance justice within international agricultural development.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/107090 |
| Date | 16 December 2021 |
| Creators | Kelinsky-Jones, Lia R. |
| Contributors | Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education, Niewolny, Kimberly L., Archibald, Thomas G., Zanotti, Laura, Stephenson, Max O. Jr. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf, application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document, application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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