The nature of standards: How standards shape the value of nature

Abstract

The article analyzes how the Global G.A.P. standard has contributed to the construction of a link between nature and agriculture and to a form of nature valuation that has strong historical roots in the process of agricultural modernization of the Region of Murcia. It explores how Global G.A.P. has created an institutional and normative space in which the interactions of human and non-human elements (technology, norms, procedures, nature values, institutions, objects and materials, etc.) are stabilized and conceived within the sphere of profitability. Based on secondary sources and in-depth interviews, the article first provides a brief explanation of the relationship between standards, values, and nature. Second, it examines the organizational and technological modernization of the farming industry in the Region of Murcia. The article finishes with a detailed description of how water, soil and fertilizer management are designed and controlled.