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This article focuses on inequalities in agriculture in the European Union. We examine the mismatch between European legislation on employment and any rigorous interrogation of women's employment position in agriculture. Our central argument is that this occurs because agriculture is seen as a sector rather than an occupation. DG AGRI is responsible for European agricultural and rural development policies. DG EMPLOYMENT does not have oversight for the agricultural workforce in the same way as other occupations as the existence of DG AGRI means farming is less obviously understood as an occupation. There are no similar measures to address the under‐representation of women in agriculture in the same way as for science, technology, engineering and mathematics occupations. We demonstrate that when agricultural policies are seen as relating to an occupation rather than a sector, it becomes clearer how agricultural policy discriminates against women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This article discusses the relations between patriotism and food sovereignty in post‐Euromaidan Ukraine. It investigates how the rising Ukrainian national identity and patriotic sentiments during the geopolitical conflict with Russia led to a change in the social imaginary of traditional small‐scale farming. Formerly, household farming was seen as a coping strategy of the post‐Soviet population and a relic of the socialist past, doomed to disappear in the nearest future. Nowadays, more and more Ukrainians view small‐scale farming as a sustainable alternative to large‐scale industrial agriculture, which could feed Ukraine (and Europe) with ecological and healthy food. This study uses primary qualitative and quantitative data collected during field research before and after the Euromaidan revolution to reveal how pro‐European aspirations and rising patriotism contribute to the emerging discourses on the ‘rights to food and to farm’ in Ukraine. This transformation could bring a new trajectory to the country's agricultural development and might lead to the emergence of a food sovereignty movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examining the development of Romanian agriculture, one may wonder how a few large-scale agribusinesses have managed to legitimise their position and to deflect open criticism even as they control a disproportionate share of arable land. Clarification may be provided by Pierre Bourdieu's concept of field, which involves the simultaneous characterisation of sets of objective positions and symbolic struggles over the definition of hierarchical principles. This analytical framework allows us to shed light on the economic field and its relationships with other fields, which each have their own structure and are each influenced by specific struggles. Large-scale agricultural holdings in Romania find support within the political and the scientific fields, each of which provides supports within the bureaucratic field. The coincidence of different fields prevents any questioning of the economic model on which the development of large-scale farming is based. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional products play an increasingly important role in European economies and policies. The economic value of these products is considerable, and they are frequently regarded as significant generators of rural and regional development. But what processes underlie the formation of a regional product? While scholars have rightly called for attention to be paid to the contextual nature of regional products, this article aims to take a progressive step in this discourse and explore if, given the contextual nature of regional products, specific patterns can be identified that serve to make products regional. To this end I investigate the qualification of a reinvented agricultural product, madder ( Rubia tinctorum), which is grown to produce dyestuff in Zeeland, The Netherlands. Based on the case of Zeeland madder and a comparison with other regional products I identify five qualification patterns, namely essentialism, strategic positioning, identity work, internal mobilisation and localising control. These patterns cross the divide between economy and culture and show how both elements become interwoven in the process of making products regional. Moreover, the patterns usefully highlight the hybridity of regional products, that is, their association with alternative food networks and conventional food networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]