Mapping the Organisational Forms of Networks of Alternative Food Networks: Implications for Transition

Abstract

AbstractIn response to the failures of the dominant agro‐food regime multiple practices for transition towards more environmentally and socially sustainable food systems have been proposed and put into practice by Alternative Food Networks (AFNs). To advance societal transitions, some AFNs have employed a strategy of developing broader networks. These network of networks, take various forms. To date, the ways in which networks of AFNs organise remains understudied, yet how they organise is likely to influence the transition pathways they advance. Drawing on organisation theory we propose a typology of organisational forms for networks of AFNs. We theorise that networks of AFNS that adopt organisational forms that are isomorphic to the dominant food regime may have their practices adopted, but that these risk co‐option and dilution. Networks of AFNs that organise around polymorphic organisational forms are less likely to see their practices integrated at the dominant regime level, but their practices could have a more fundamental transformative impact.