Trapped in a vicious circle How classification systems hinder organic farmers’ associations as rural development actors
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Published
08-04-2026
Jasmina Božić
Marija Roglic
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9683-420X
Abstract
Croatian organic farmers form professional associations to overcome individual limitations of time and management capacity, yet these associations reproduce the same constraints at collective level, thus creating a ‘vicious circle’ that impedes rural development. Based on interviews with 29 organic producers and 14 associations, we identify two mechanisms perpetuating this paradox: state funding frameworks classify farmers’ associations in the same category as elite professional bodies (physicians, lawyers), thus excluding them from rural development resources; and these associations restrict their membership to certified producers, thus barring individuals with complementary skills from governance. This post-socialist case reveals how regulatory classifications and institutional legacies constrain civil society’s developmental potential—a dimension inadequately theorised in neo-endogenous development approaches. While cooperatives remain tainted by socialist history and other organisational forms prove ineffective, professional associations offer the only viable vehicle for collective action, despite systematic disadvantages. Breaking this vicious circle will require both the recognition, in funding frameworks, of the distinctive public-interest role of farmers’ associations, and the adoption of inclusive governance models. The analysis demonstrates how institutional mechanisms can trap rural development actors in self-defeating cycles.
How to Cite
Božić, J. and Roglic, M. (2026) “Trapped in a vicious circle: How classification systems hinder organic farmers’ associations as rural development actors”, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 32(1), pp. 195–214. doi:10.48416/ijsaf.v31i1.760.
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Keywords
neo-endogenous development, professional associations, organic agriculture, civil society organisations, rural governance
References
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Darnhofer I (2005) Organic farming and rural development: Some evidence from Austria. Sociologia Ruralis 45(4): 308–323.
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Goodman D, DuPuis EM and Goodman MS (2012) Alternative Food Networks: Knowledge, Practice, and Politics. Abingdon: Routledge.
Granovetter M (1985) Economic action and social structure: The problem of embeddedness. American Journal of Sociology 91(3): 481–510.
Habermas J (1996) Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Haferkamp H and Smelser NJ (eds) (1992) Social Change and Modernity. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Kovách I (2000) LEADER, a new social order, and the Central- and East-European countries. Sociologia Ruralis 40(2): 181–189.
Lowe P, Murdoch J and Ward N (1995) Networks in rural development: Beyond exogenous and endogenous models. In: van der Ploeg JD and van Dijk G (eds) Beyond Modernisation: The Impact of Endogenous Rural Development. Assen: Van Gorcum, pp. 87–105.
Luhmann N (1995) Social Systems. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Lyson TA and Barham E (1998) Civil society and agricultural sustainability. Social Science Quarterly 79(3): 554–567.
Marquardt D, Möllers J and Buchenrieder G (2012) Social networks and rural development: LEADER in Romania. Sociologia Ruralis 52(4): 398–431.
Martin R, Martinelli F and Clifton J (2022) Rethinking spatial policy in an era of multiple crises. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society 15(1): 3–21.
Maurel M-C (2008) L’action publique ‘par le bas’: l’approche LEADER en Europe central. Revue d’études comparatives Est-Ouest 39(4): 33–62.
Meador JE (2019) Reaching rural: Identifying implicit social networks in community development programmes. Journal of Rural Studies 68: 285–295.
Ministry of Agriculture (n.d.) Popis subjekata u ekološkoj poljoprivredi. Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Croatia. Available at: https://poljoprivreda.gov.hr/istaknute-teme/poljoprivreda-173/poljoprivreda-175/ekoloska/popis-subjekata-u-ekoloskoj-poljoprivredi/208 (accessed 8 April 2026).
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Novkovic S and Golja T (2015) Cooperatives and civil society: Potential for local cooperative development in Croatia. Journal of Entrepreneurial and Organisational Diversity 4(1): 153–169.
Nowak A and Kobiałka A (2024) The significance of organic farming in the European Union from the perspective of sustainable development. Economics and Environment 88(1): 710.
OECD (2013) Providing Agri-Environmental Public Goods through Collective Action. Paris: OECD Publishing.
Olmedo L and O’Shaughnessy M (2022) Community-based social enterprises as actors for neo-endogenous rural development: A multi-stakeholder approach. Rural Sociology 87(4): 1191–1218.
Olmedo L and O’Shaughnessy M (2023) A substantive view of social enterprises as neo-endogenous rural development actors. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organisations 34(2): 209–221.
Olmedo L, van Twuijver M and O’Shaughnessy M (2023) Rurality as context for innovative responses to social challenges – The role of rural social enterprises. Journal of Rural Studies 99: 272–283.
Omar A and Hvarregaard Thorsøe M (2024) Rebalance power and strengthen farmers’ position in the EU food system? A CDA of the Farm to Fork Strategy. Agriculture and Human Values 41(2): 631–646.
Osti G (2002) LEADER and partnerships: The case of Italy. Sociologia Ruralis 40(2): 172–180.
Parsons T (2005) The Social System. Abingdon: Routledge.
Planas J, Schuurman A and Segers Y (2022) *The formation of agricultural governance: The interplay between state and civil society in European agriculture, 1870-1940*. DT-SEHA n. 2204. Sociedad de Estudios de Historia Agraria.
Ray C (2001) Culture Economies: A Perspective on Local Rural Development in Europe. Newcastle: Centre for Rural Economy, University of Newcastle.
Ray C (2006) Neo-endogenous rural development in the EU. In: Cloke P, Marsden T and Mooney P (eds) The Handbook of Rural Studies. Thousand Oaks: SAGE, pp. 278–291.
Rossi A, Piccoli A and Feola G (2024) Transforming labour around food? The experience of community supported agriculture in Italy. Agriculture and Human Values 41(4): 1667–1686.
Schneider A and Lysenkov A (2022) Country report organic Slovenia 2022. Available at: http://www.ekoconnect.org/tl_files/eko/p/Projekte/MOE-Laenderberichte/Country-Report-Organic-SLOVENIA-EkoConnect-2022.pdf (accessed 8 April 2026).
Schochet G (1995) Vices, benefits, and civil society: Mandeville, Habermas, and the distinction between public and private. Prose Studies: History, Theory, Criticism 18(3): 244–269.
Shawki N and Hunter GL (2022) Building solidarity in the slow food movement. The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food 28(2): 75–93.
Stotten R, Bui S, Pugliese P, et al. (2018) Organic values-based supply chains as a tool for territorial development: A comparative analysis of three European organic regions. The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food 24(1): 135–154.
Tandon R and Brown LD (2013) Civil societies at crossroads: Lessons and implications. Development in Practice 23(5/6): 784–796.
Trenouth L and Sovová L (2025) (Alternative) food consumption practices in Central and Eastern Europe: An integrative critical literature review. Agriculture and Human Values 42(3): 2283–2296.
Wolf SA and Hufnagl-Eichiner S (2007) External resources and development of forest landowner collaboratives. Society and Natural Resources 20(8): 675–688.
Xu C (2025) AFN as bricolage: towards an alternative notion of ‘alterity’ as ‘hybridity’. The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food 31(1): 53–69.
Zago R, Block T, Dessein J, et al. (2015) Citizen participation in neo-endogenous rural development. The case of LEADER programme. Paper presentation at 6th EAAE PhD Workshop, Roma, Italy, 08-10 June 2015. Available at: https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/6844994/file/6845077.pdf (accessed 8 April 2026).
Zamfir GI (2020) A knife to a gunfight: Endogenous development through LEADER as contradictory policy prescription. Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai Sociologia 65(1): 43–68.
Zhang QF (2024) Producers’ transition to alternative food practices in rural China: Social mobilization and cultural reconstruction in the formation of alternative economies. Agriculture and Human Values 41(2): 615–630.
Archibugi F (2000) The Associative Economy: Insights beyond the Welfare State and into Post-Capitalism. London: Macmillan.
Augustyn A and Nemes G (2014) Catching up with the West? Europeanisation of rural policies in Hungary and Poland. Studies in Agricultural Economics 116(3): 114–121.
Bebbington A, Thiele G, Davies P, et al. (1993) Non-Governmental Organisations and the State in Latin America: Rethinking Roles in Sustainable Agricultural Development. Abingdon: Routledge.
Beckert J (2006) Interpenetration versus embeddedness: The premature dismissal of Talcott Parsons in the new economic sociology. American Journal of Economics and Sociology 65(1): 161–188.
Beingessner N and Fletcher AJ (2020) ‘Going local’: farmers’ perspectives on local food systems in rural Canada. Agriculture and Human Values 37(1): 129–145.
Bijman J, Muradian R and Schuurman J (eds) (2016) Cooperatives, Economic Democratisation and Rural Development. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Bock BB (2016) Rural marginalisation and the role of social innovation; A turn towards nexogenous development and rural reconnection. Sociologia Ruralis 56(4): 552–573.
Braun V and Clarke V (2021) Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.
Braun V and Clarke V (2024) Supporting best practice in reflexive thematic analysis reporting in Palliative Medicine: A review of published research and introduction to the Reflexive Thematic Analysis Reporting Guidelines (RTARG). Palliative Medicine 38(6): 608–616.
Brown T (2016) Civil society organisations for sustainable agriculture: Negotiating power relations for pro-poor development in India. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems 40(4): 381–404.
Capacio JLD, De Dios ES and van Tulder R (2018) Breaking barriers in agriculture financing: Enhancing the inclusiveness and sustainability of agriculture value chains. EMIT C4C Discussion Paper. Available at: https://repub.eur.nl/pub/109572/Breaking-Barriers-27-July-2018-for-IAVCC-Final.pdf (accessed 8 April 2026).
Chatzichristos G, Nagopoulos N and Poulimas M (2021) Neo-endogenous rural development: A path towards reviving rural Europe. Rural Sociology 86(4): 911–937.
Cohen J and Arato A (1992) Civil Society and Political Theory. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Constance DH, Renard M-C and Rivera-Ferre MG (eds) (2014) Alternative Agrifood Movements: Patterns of Convergence and Divergence. Leeds: Emerald.
Cooke P and Morgan K (1998) The Associational Economy: Firms, Regions and Innovation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Darnhofer I (2005) Organic farming and rural development: Some evidence from Austria. Sociologia Ruralis 45(4): 308–323.
European Commission (2003) *Commission Recommendation of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (Text with EEA relevance) (notified under document number C(2003) 1422)*. Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reco/2003/361/oj (accessed 8 April 2026).
European Commission (2012) The roots of democracy and sustainable development: Europe’s engagement with Civil Society in external relations. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. COM(2012) 492 final. Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A52012DC0492 (accessed 8 April 2026).
European Commission (2020) ‘A Farm to Fork Strategy’ for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. COM(2020) 381 final. Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52020DC0381 (accessed 8 April 2026).
FiBL and IFOAM (2024) The world of organic agriculture: Statistics and emerging trends 2024. Available at: https://www.fibl.org/fileadmin/documents/shop/1747-organic-world-2024_light.pdf (accessed 8 April 2026).
Furmankiewicz M, Knieć W and Atterton J (2015) Rural governance in the new EU member states: The experience of the Polish LEADER+ Pilot Programme (2004–2008). In: Buček J and Ryder A (eds) Governance in Transition. Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 133–153.
Gandrup T (2025) Can social capital be exchanged for rural development? Potentials and limits explored through the case of citizen-initiated rural grocery stores in Denmark. Sociologia Ruralis 65(2): e70000.
Gibbs GR (2007) Analysing Qualitative Data. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.
Gkartzios M and Lowe P (2019) Revisiting neo-endogenous rural development. In: Scott M, Gallent N and Gkartzios M (eds) The Routledge Companion to Rural Planning. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 159–169.
Goodman D, DuPuis EM and Goodman MS (2012) Alternative Food Networks: Knowledge, Practice, and Politics. Abingdon: Routledge.
Granovetter M (1985) Economic action and social structure: The problem of embeddedness. American Journal of Sociology 91(3): 481–510.
Habermas J (1996) Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Haferkamp H and Smelser NJ (eds) (1992) Social Change and Modernity. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Kovách I (2000) LEADER, a new social order, and the Central- and East-European countries. Sociologia Ruralis 40(2): 181–189.
Lowe P, Murdoch J and Ward N (1995) Networks in rural development: Beyond exogenous and endogenous models. In: van der Ploeg JD and van Dijk G (eds) Beyond Modernisation: The Impact of Endogenous Rural Development. Assen: Van Gorcum, pp. 87–105.
Luhmann N (1995) Social Systems. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Lyson TA and Barham E (1998) Civil society and agricultural sustainability. Social Science Quarterly 79(3): 554–567.
Marquardt D, Möllers J and Buchenrieder G (2012) Social networks and rural development: LEADER in Romania. Sociologia Ruralis 52(4): 398–431.
Martin R, Martinelli F and Clifton J (2022) Rethinking spatial policy in an era of multiple crises. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society 15(1): 3–21.
Maurel M-C (2008) L’action publique ‘par le bas’: l’approche LEADER en Europe central. Revue d’études comparatives Est-Ouest 39(4): 33–62.
Meador JE (2019) Reaching rural: Identifying implicit social networks in community development programmes. Journal of Rural Studies 68: 285–295.
Ministry of Agriculture (n.d.) Popis subjekata u ekološkoj poljoprivredi. Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Croatia. Available at: https://poljoprivreda.gov.hr/istaknute-teme/poljoprivreda-173/poljoprivreda-175/ekoloska/popis-subjekata-u-ekoloskoj-poljoprivredi/208 (accessed 8 April 2026).
Ministry of Agriculture (2022) Second public call for financing programs and projects of associations that promote agriculture and the value of the rural area of the Republic of Croatia for the year 2022. Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Croatia. Available at: https://poljoprivreda.gov.hr/javni-pozivi-i-natjecaji/drugi-javni-poziv-za-financiranje-programa-i-projekata-udruga-koje-promicu-poljoprivredu-i-vrijednost-ruralnog-prostora-republike-hrvatske-za-2022-godinunova-kategorija/5632 (accessed 8 April 2026).
Ministry of Agriculture (2023) Nacionalni akcijski plan razvoja ekološke poljoprivrede 2023. – 2030. Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Croatia. Available at: https://poljoprivreda.gov.hr/UserDocsImages/dokumenti/pristup_info/zakoni_propisi/zakoni_poljoprivreda/ekoloska/NAP%202023-2030_compressed.pdf (accessed 8 April 2026).
Novkovic S and Golja T (2015) Cooperatives and civil society: Potential for local cooperative development in Croatia. Journal of Entrepreneurial and Organisational Diversity 4(1): 153–169.
Nowak A and Kobiałka A (2024) The significance of organic farming in the European Union from the perspective of sustainable development. Economics and Environment 88(1): 710.
OECD (2013) Providing Agri-Environmental Public Goods through Collective Action. Paris: OECD Publishing.
Olmedo L and O’Shaughnessy M (2022) Community-based social enterprises as actors for neo-endogenous rural development: A multi-stakeholder approach. Rural Sociology 87(4): 1191–1218.
Olmedo L and O’Shaughnessy M (2023) A substantive view of social enterprises as neo-endogenous rural development actors. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organisations 34(2): 209–221.
Olmedo L, van Twuijver M and O’Shaughnessy M (2023) Rurality as context for innovative responses to social challenges – The role of rural social enterprises. Journal of Rural Studies 99: 272–283.
Omar A and Hvarregaard Thorsøe M (2024) Rebalance power and strengthen farmers’ position in the EU food system? A CDA of the Farm to Fork Strategy. Agriculture and Human Values 41(2): 631–646.
Osti G (2002) LEADER and partnerships: The case of Italy. Sociologia Ruralis 40(2): 172–180.
Parsons T (2005) The Social System. Abingdon: Routledge.
Planas J, Schuurman A and Segers Y (2022) *The formation of agricultural governance: The interplay between state and civil society in European agriculture, 1870-1940*. DT-SEHA n. 2204. Sociedad de Estudios de Historia Agraria.
Ray C (2001) Culture Economies: A Perspective on Local Rural Development in Europe. Newcastle: Centre for Rural Economy, University of Newcastle.
Ray C (2006) Neo-endogenous rural development in the EU. In: Cloke P, Marsden T and Mooney P (eds) The Handbook of Rural Studies. Thousand Oaks: SAGE, pp. 278–291.
Rossi A, Piccoli A and Feola G (2024) Transforming labour around food? The experience of community supported agriculture in Italy. Agriculture and Human Values 41(4): 1667–1686.
Schneider A and Lysenkov A (2022) Country report organic Slovenia 2022. Available at: http://www.ekoconnect.org/tl_files/eko/p/Projekte/MOE-Laenderberichte/Country-Report-Organic-SLOVENIA-EkoConnect-2022.pdf (accessed 8 April 2026).
Schochet G (1995) Vices, benefits, and civil society: Mandeville, Habermas, and the distinction between public and private. Prose Studies: History, Theory, Criticism 18(3): 244–269.
Shawki N and Hunter GL (2022) Building solidarity in the slow food movement. The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food 28(2): 75–93.
Stotten R, Bui S, Pugliese P, et al. (2018) Organic values-based supply chains as a tool for territorial development: A comparative analysis of three European organic regions. The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food 24(1): 135–154.
Tandon R and Brown LD (2013) Civil societies at crossroads: Lessons and implications. Development in Practice 23(5/6): 784–796.
Trenouth L and Sovová L (2025) (Alternative) food consumption practices in Central and Eastern Europe: An integrative critical literature review. Agriculture and Human Values 42(3): 2283–2296.
Wolf SA and Hufnagl-Eichiner S (2007) External resources and development of forest landowner collaboratives. Society and Natural Resources 20(8): 675–688.
Xu C (2025) AFN as bricolage: towards an alternative notion of ‘alterity’ as ‘hybridity’. The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food 31(1): 53–69.
Zago R, Block T, Dessein J, et al. (2015) Citizen participation in neo-endogenous rural development. The case of LEADER programme. Paper presentation at 6th EAAE PhD Workshop, Roma, Italy, 08-10 June 2015. Available at: https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/6844994/file/6845077.pdf (accessed 8 April 2026).
Zamfir GI (2020) A knife to a gunfight: Endogenous development through LEADER as contradictory policy prescription. Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai Sociologia 65(1): 43–68.
Zhang QF (2024) Producers’ transition to alternative food practices in rural China: Social mobilization and cultural reconstruction in the formation of alternative economies. Agriculture and Human Values 41(2): 615–630.
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How to Cite
Božić, J. and Roglic, M. (2026) “Trapped in a vicious circle: How classification systems hinder organic farmers’ associations as rural development actors”, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 32(1), pp. 195–214. doi:10.48416/ijsaf.v31i1.760.
Funding data
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Sveučilište u Zagrebu
Grant numbers 11-923-1050;11-929-1008
