Agro-food studies in the 'age of ecology': Nature, corporeality, bio-politics

The theoretical purview and contemporary political relevance of agro-food s tudies are restricted by their unexamined methodological foundations in mod ernist ontology. The nature-society dualism at the core of this ontology pl aces agro-food studies, and their 'parent' disciplines in the orthodox soci al sciences, outside the broad intellectual project that is advancing the g reening of social theory, and militates against effective engagement with t he bio-politics of environmental organizations and Green movements. The dis abling consequences of the erasure of nature in agro-food studies are explo red by analyzing several recent theoretical perspectives: the consumption ' turn' in the work of Fine, Marsden and their respective colleagues, and Wag eningen actor-oriented rural sociology. The merits of actor-network theory in resolving these ontological limitations are then considered using brief case-studies of food scares, agri-biotechnologies, and the recent proposals to regulate organic agriculture in the United States.