Certified discourse? The politics of developing soy certification standards

Abstract

Certification systems are an increasingly prominent feature of privatized, market-based environmental governance. While the potential of such systems to effectively lead to sustainable outcomes continues to be of concern to researchers, a growing body of literature focuses instead on the ways in which certification systems embody politics and reflect existing power relations. This paper contributes to this literature by analyzing the processes involved in developing production standards for the certification of ‘responsible’ soy, within the emergent certification system initiated by the Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS). The Discourse Coalition Framework (DCF), highlights several aspects of the RTRS that illustrate how the process of developing standards for responsible soy has been highly contested and has featured political struggles. First, broad discourse, rather than specific technical knowledge, is the basis for cohesion of different stakeholders within the RTRS. Secondly, opponents have effectively challenged the RTRS at the level of broad discourse (as opposed to specific technical criteria), but the challenge has curtailed possibilities for widespread participation in the RTRS. Thirdly, the broad discourse of responsible soy has enabled unlikely alliances that have consolidated power with profoundly political effects. These findings provide an alternative basis for critically analyzing certification systems, beyond outcome effectiveness.