Abstract

Civil society has a critical role in bringing about the paradigm shift necessary for sustainability transitions in agriculture. It forms the backbone behind both scaling out and scaling up of these transitions. Its role as innovator, pioneer, campaigner, collaborator and co-creator of knowledge has been inadequately studied in the social movements, sustainability transitions and agroecology literature. This article traces the organic evolution of civil society action in India from the 1980s that reflects a rich and plural history, including a radical and early critique of the Green Revolution paradigm, rooting locally situated alternatives on farmers’ fields and co-creating a diverse set of concepts and practices based on principles from the emerging science of agroecology coupled with socio-economic concerns. As the Indian state aims to rapidly scale natural farming, there is a need for exploring more common ground beyond noisy contestations on terminology or treating civil society organisations (CSOs) as sub-contractors of government schemes. CSOs need to experiment with emerging large-scale opportunities by maintaining a delicate balance between being co-opted collaborators or reluctant partners. As a social movement, they should not lose sight of their recognition and ability to be voices for marginalised knowledge systems, innovators of alternatives and watchdogs of collective value-based action.

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