Back to the roots. The virtues of the farmer in the 21st century. A virtue ethical approach of the role of the contemporary farmer

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2015-08-21
Language
en
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Abstract
In the political theoretical debates on animal and environmental ethics, in contrast to wider agricultural policy debates, it seems that the position of the traditional family farm is not considered. The overall tone in these debates is that altering nature for human purposes is not tenable anymore. This paper concentrates on the position of the traditional family farm in political theory. By applying the method of virtue ethics I will investigate whether the traditional family farm is morally legitimate. Derived from these debates, I develop a framework of three (representative) farm role models: the sustainable farmer, the steward farmer, the organic & ecological farmer. Additionally, these theoretical role models are collated with empirical reality through the method of interviewing. The development of this framework is highly relevant to study and to evaluate the role of the contemporary family farmer in order to properly justify the case of European farm support.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen