<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The article studies the politics of expertise and the co-production of sociotechnical imaginaries, expertise identities and public policies in agriculture and the use of fertilisers in Greece between the years 1945 and 2000. By applying the concept of the co-productionist idiom, the processes of appropriation will be studied and dynamic processes in postwar Greece are demonstrated. The study argues that experts functioned not only as mediators but as promoters and shapers of sociotechnical imaginaries in Greece, and that they directed specific policies in promoting or controlling the use of fertilisers: particularly nitrogen (N) fertilisers. Until 1990, experts had the power and the authority to politically and socially legitimise the use of intense fertilisation. In the years since 1990, the experts’ role was configured by transnational political pressures from the European Union that shaped the experts’ consensus on the harmful effects of agriculture malpractice and the overuse of nitrogen fertilisers. Yet still while an environmentally friendly agriculture paradigm was sought the dominant public discourse promoted by experts in Greece still prioritised accuracy and rational use.</p></abstract>

The article studies the politics of expertise and the co-production of sociotechnical imaginaries, expertise identities and public policies in agriculture and the use of fertilisers in Greece between the years 1945 and 2000. By applying the concept of the co-productionist idiom, the processes of appropriation will be studied and dynamic processes in postwar Greece are demonstrated. The study argues that experts functioned not only as mediators but as promoters and shapers of sociotechnical imaginaries in Greece, and that they directed specific policies in promoting or controlling the use of fertilisers: particularly nitrogen (N) fertilisers. Until 1990, experts had the power and the authority to politically and socially legitimise the use of intense fertilisation. In the years since 1990, the experts’ role was configured by transnational political pressures from the European Union that shaped the experts’ consensus on the harmful effects of agriculture malpractice and the overuse of nitrogen fertilisers. Yet still while an environmentally friendly agriculture paradigm was sought the dominant public discourse promoted by experts in Greece still prioritised accuracy and rational use.

Fertilising Farms and Institutional Authorities:

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

HoST - Journal  of History of Science and Technology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Experts, Regime-Making and Agricultural Politics in Greece, 1945–2000

The article studies the politics of expertise and the co-production of sociotechnical imaginaries, expertise identities and public policies in agriculture and...

Fertilising Farms and Institutional Authorities:

Published Online: Sep 01, 2017

Page range: 10 - 33

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/host-2017-0002

Keywords
Fertilisers, Greece, environment, pollution, chemistry, expertise

© 2017 Stathis Arapostathis, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Fertilising Farms and Institutional Authorities:

Published Online: Sep 01, 2017

Page range: 10 - 33

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/host-2017-0002

KeywordsFertilisers, Greece, environment, pollution, chemistry, expertise

© 2017 Stathis Arapostathis, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Fertilisers, Greece, environment, pollution, chemistry, expertise