AGROECOLOGY lab

My research explores the transformative dimension of agroecology through an ontological lens. Ontology is understood here as the set of assumptions through which people understand and construct the world: what is considered to exist, and how relationships between humans, nature, and other forms of life are conceived. Recent scholarship suggests that the struggle surrounding agroecology is fundamentally ontological, as agroecology challenges the dominant cultural project of colonial modernity and advances alternative ways of relating to the environment, food systems, and community life.

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Although agroecology has long been rooted in Indigenous and peasant knowledge systems that emphasize relationality between humans and nature, the ontological dimension of agroecology remains insufficiently addressed in academic debates.

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Central to this research is the role of knowledge systems in shaping worldviews and social-ecological relations. Knowledge is not treated as neutral or objective; rather, it is understood as political, since it influences what is considered legitimate, valuable, and possible within society and within human–nature relations. Building on this perspective, the project examines how processes of knowledge co-creation within agroecological movements may contribute to ontological transformations by reshaping understandings of community, food systems, and the relationship between humans and nature.

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The research draws on empirical experiences of agroecological social movements in both the Global North and the Global South to develop a theoretical framework on the relationship between epistemology and ontology in agroecology. The central question guiding the study is: How do processes of knowledge co-creation within agroecology social movements contribute — or fail to contribute — to ontological transformations? Ultimately, the project aims to develop an “Agroecology Epistemic Resistance Framework” grounded in the experiences of agroecological collectives. Rather than portraying marginalized actors as passive victims of epistemic oppression, this framework emphasizes their agency as subjects capable of resisting and transforming dominant normative structures through collective learning, knowledge production, and alternative ways of being and relating to the world.