Abstract
In 2016, summarily outlawing all chemical inputs, the Indian state of Sikkim transitioned to completely organic agriculture. Despite “organic discontents” of farmers and citizens about autocratic implementation, lowered yields, and unsatisfactory prices, “Sikkim Organic” enjoys global accolades and local compliance. The paradox of alternative agriculture in the Global South is that it is often promoted by the same state-science-capital hegemonic formation that pushed the conventional paradigm. How has the Sikkimese state negotiated this paradox and continued to claim success, when other radical state-led organic transformations have failed? Recent scholarship advocates for contextual definitions of organic success, beyond the parameters of yield and profit. They examine the socio-political concerns of farmers, middlemen and consumers that shape their engagement with the phenomenon. This lens is seldom applied to the state. Drawing on ethnographic conversations with farmers, local consumers, state officials and discourse analysis of governmental literature and speeches, this article analyzes the Sikkimese state’s efforts at consolidating its hegemony as a process of political brand-building. Highlighting the cultural aspects of policy implementation, it analyzes the affective resonances about traditional agrarian practices and about the morality of organic markets that the state discursively creates to support its organic regime. This extends the critique of the state beyond the focus on governmentality and neoliberalization through state-led certification/standardization. The article neither absolves the state of its failures nor dismisses the potential of progressive organic policies. It shows the significance of contextual cultural-political framings in determining outcomes of large-scale experiments towards sustainable agrarian futures.
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Notes
The Indian state grants affirmative action to disadvantaged communities based on their lower caste or tribal status and their historic economic backwardness. 33% of Sikkim’s population, comprising of the Bhutia, Lepcha, Limboo, Tamang, Sherpa ethnic groups are recognized officially as “Scheduled Tribes”. “Scheduled Castes” like the Kami, Damai and Sarki constitute about 4.6% of the population. Various other ethnic groups like Rai, Gurung, Magar, Chettri, Bahun, Newar are also seeking either “Other Backward Classes” or “Scheduled Tribes” status, to avail of targeted educational and economic opportunities provided by the state.
See Kantor (2020) for a rich description of how rural Indians fluidly move between these positions and temporary urban employment, making a definition of a farmer particularly permeable.
as part of the Group of Twenty (G20) Forum for International Economic Cooperation.
The central government dealing with the regional state similarly circumscribed its own role to “representation in the service of attracting capital.” The latter sought INR 43,589 as aid for 2016-21, to underwrite the risks of its organic transition (Sikkim Express, 2016). The PM positioned his government as the investment-facilitator building the only airport in Sikkim (operational since 2018). His 2016 speech claimed that “everyday cargo filled with fruits and flowers can leave the state. Sikkim can scale new heights. Infrastructure development will take care of the needs of the farmer.”.
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Das, S. Politically Branding India’s “First Fully Organic State”: Re-Signification of Traditional Practices and Markets in Organic Agriculture. J Agric Environ Ethics 36, 20 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-023-09915-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-023-09915-9