CO-PRODUCING ORGANISMS, FOODS AND ACTORS IN CONTEMPORARY AGRI-FOOD ASSEMBLAGES: CONTROVERSIES AND INSIGHTS FROM THE SOY PRODUCTION CHAIN IN ARGENTINA

Luis Ernesto Blacha; Oliver Davenport

Todos os Trabalhos

Trabalho

DOI

10.29327/9786527226680.1441685

Título do Trabalho

CO-PRODUCING ORGANISMS, FOODS AND ACTORS IN CONTEMPORARY AGRI-FOOD ASSEMBLAGES: CONTROVERSIES AND INSIGHTS FROM THE SOY PRODUCTION CHAIN IN ARGENTINA

Autores

Luis Ernesto Blacha
Oliver Davenport

Modalidade

IRSA - Congresso Mundial de Sociologia Rural (01/10/2025 a 20/01/2026)

Área temática

Sessão Especial

Data de Publicação

06/08/2026

País da Publicação

Brasil

Idioma da Publicação

pt-BR

Página do Trabalho

https://www.even3.com.br/anais/sober-irsa2026/1441685-co-producing-organisms-foods-and-actors-in-contemporary-agri-food-assemblages--controversies-and-insights-from-

ISBN

978-65-272-2668-0

Palavras-Chave

Sociotechnical assemblages, ultra-processed foods, co-production, soy production, Argentina

Resumo

This paper examines how contemporary global agri-food arrangements are constituted through the sociotechnical articulation of organisms, foods and actors. Drawing on Science and Technology Studies (STS) and critical agri-food scholarship, the analysis proposes an integrated framework to understand how technologies, knowledge and material practices co-produce agri-food assemblages in the twenty-first century. At the level of food products, the paper engages with classifications based on degrees of processing, distinguishing between processed and ultra-processed foods (Monteiro et al., 2010). Beyond nutritional attributes, ultra-processed foods operate through specific forms of consumption, expertise and everyday practices, giving rise to what Van Tulleken (2020) conceptualizes as “ultra-processed people” (UPP). These subjectivities emerge through sustained interactions between products, bodies, infrastructures and intersecting regimes of technoscientific, nutritional and practical knowledge. The analysis simultaneously considers genetically modified organisms (GMOs) as foundational components of contemporary commodity production, rather than treating them as purely technical inputs. The paper conceptualizes GMOs as “ultra-processed organisms” (UPO), emphasizing their entanglement in sociotechnical, regulatory and corporate practices. Through the interrelations between UPOs, ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and UPPs, the study highlights processes of co-production that stabilize particular agri-food assemblages while generating ongoing tensions and limiting alternative trajectories. Empirically, the argument draws on the soy production chain in Argentina, illustrating how technoscientific expertise, standardization practices and commodity infrastructures shape territorial, technological and social configurations, socio-environmental effects, and the co-production of dietary practices among actors. By foregrounding controversies and unintended consequences, the paper contributes to debates on how contemporary agri-food assemblages are reconfigured through knowledge and technologies, and how these dynamics reproduce inequalities while opening limited spaces for alternative, more inclusive and sustainable arrangements.

Título do Evento: 16th World Congress of Rural Sociology and 64th Congress of the Brazilian Society of Rural Economics, Management and Sociology
Cidade do Evento: Porto Alegre
Título dos Anais do Evento: Anais do 64º Congresso da SOBER e XVI Congresso Mundial de Sociologia Rural (IRSA)
Nome da Editora: Even3
Meio de Divulgação: Meio Digital
DOI

Como citar

BLACHA, Luis Ernesto; DAVENPORT, Oliver. CO-PRODUCING ORGANISMS, FOODS AND ACTORS IN CONTEMPORARY AGRI-FOOD ASSEMBLAGES: CONTROVERSIES AND INSIGHTS FROM THE SOY PRODUCTION CHAIN IN ARGENTINA.. In: Anais do 64º Congresso da SOBER e XVI Congresso Mundial de Sociologia Rural (IRSA). Anais...Porto Alegre(RS) UFRGS, 2026. Disponível em: https//www.even3.com.br/anais/sober-irsa2026/1441685-CO-PRODUCING-ORGANISMS-FOODS-AND-ACTORS-IN-CONTEMPORARY-AGRI-FOOD-ASSEMBLAGES--CONTROVERSIES-AND-INSIGHTS-FROM-. Acesso em: 22/09/2026