A call to expand disciplinary boundaries so that social scientific imagination and practice are central to quests for ‘responsible’ digital agri‐food innovation

Abstract

A call to expand disciplinary boundaries so that social scientific imagination and practice are central to quests for 'responsible' digital agri-food innovation INTRODUCTIONThe current venture capital investment model and associated start-up cultures require utmost positivity in technological investment, with 'success breeds success' being a common mantra in relation to university-industry partnerships (Santoro, 2000). Such approaches within the 'agtech' community result in existential challenges for those of us who are tasked by our disciplinary training to espouse more balanced and critical perspectives. The specific aim of this special issue (SI) is to advance the scholarly understanding of a concept called responsible innovation (RI), as it applies to the sociotechnical transition processes of digitalisation within the domain of agri-food industries. This aim is built on a base of many intellectual endeavours that have come before, some of the most notable and timely including:

To the farm, Mars, and beyond: Technologies for growing food in space, the future of long-duration space missions, and earth implications in English news media coverage

“…A critical social science approach to the political economy behind the financialization of space food research would also be of benefit. To conclude, when it comes to the technologies for growing food in space, whether it be Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, robotics and more, we agree with the recommendations noted by Fielke et al (2022). Fielke et al (2022) identified the need to expand disciplinary boundaries to ensure that social scientific imagination and practice are central in the quest for responsible for digital innovation.…”

“…To conclude, when it comes to the technologies for growing food in space, whether it be Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, robotics and more, we agree with the recommendations noted by Fielke et al (2022). Fielke et al (2022) identified the need to expand disciplinary boundaries to ensure that social scientific imagination and practice are central in the quest for responsible for digital innovation. Our study calls for the responsible framing of agri-food space technological innovations in news media, and the contributions of more social scientists in research and conversations around producing food in space.…”

“…Similar to the critical issues that were raised around equity and the need for responsible innovation (Fielke et al, 2022), it is interesting to note how the aspiration for multiplanetary living or human settlement on Mars engages language premised on the violent and extractive Columbian colonization of the Americas. For example, in discussing how to transform the atmosphere so that humans do not need to carry oxygen bottles and masks, Genta (2021, p. 13) writes: .…”

“…While the growing body of critical social science scholarship on digital agriculture and the fourth agricultural revolution, smart agriculture, and agri-tech approaches on Earth has grown substantially (Fielke et al, 2022), the same call for responsible innovation in food studies has not yet covered food production in space and associated claims of benefit for earth. This presents an important area for academic inquiry because many of the same technologies, corporations, venture capital investors, and purported "win-win" solutions that are claimed for Earth are rapidly expanding into the space domain.…”

Toward digitalization futures in smallholder farming systems in Sub-Sahara Africa: A social practice proposal

“…Also, my proposal must not be misconstrued as propagation of primacy of technological innovations evident in current food regimes (Anderson et al, 2019) nor a presentation of digitalization as an uncontestable transformative solution to smallholder issues. Further scholarly inputs from diverse theoretical and analytical approaches, including responsible innovations (Klerkx and Rose, 2020;Fielke et al, 2022;Jakku et al, 2022) and the political economy of digitalization (Carolan, 2020;Duncan et al, 2021;Abdulai, 2022) is critical to ensuring the phenomenon does not reinforce existing inequalities. Digital transformations cannot happen without careful analysis of the political and economic implications of the phenomenon, including for rural communities and smallholders (Carolan, 2017;Rotz et al, 2019;Abdulai, 2022).…”