Literature on the conversion from intensive to organic farming is scarce. However, both the conversion of farmers to organic farming and of consumers to organic food are the driving forces for the development of the organic sector. In this review, we combine agricultural and social scientists’ viewpoints for a critical appraisal of literature on conversion to organic food and farming. First, a brief historical retrospective enables us to refer the scientific production to the institutional and economic context over the past decades. Secondly, we review the methods used to analyse conversion in agricultural and social sciences, and show that emphasis is most often laid upon the effects of conversion and the motivations to convert, on the basis of comparative approaches with so-called conventional agriculture. Therefore, the literature minimises the importance of transitional aspects and trajectories, and rarely approaches conversion as a longer process than its legal duration and from a wider point of view. Thirdly, we examine the paradigms of input efficiency and system redesign, which frame discussions about transitions in agriculture, beyond organics, and therefore helps shed light on sustainability issues. We suggest that analysing conversion and more generally transitions in agriculture as multidimensional issues, involving both production and social practices, entails interdisciplinary approaches and the redefinition of some central research topics.

中文翻译：

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转换为有机农业：农业和社会科学十字路口的多维研究对象。回顾

从集约化耕作向有机耕作转化的文献很少。但是，农民向有机农业的转化以及消费者向有机食品的转化都是有机部门发展的动力。在这篇综述中，我们结合了农业和社会科学家的观点，对对有机食品和农业转化的文献进行了严格的评估。首先，简短的历史回顾使我们能够将科学生产参考过去几十年的制度和经济背景。其次，我们回顾了用于分析农业和社会科学中的转化的方法，并表明，在与常规农业的比较方法的基础上，最经常强调转化的效果和转化的动机。因此，文献将过渡方面和轨迹的重要性降到最低，并且很少将转化视为比其合法期限更长的过程，而且从更广泛的角度来看。第三，我们研究了输入效率和系统重新设计的范式，它们构成了关于农业过渡的讨论，超越了有机物，因此有助于阐明可持续性问题。我们建议将农业生产中的转换和更广泛的转变作为涉及生产和社会实践的多维问题进行分析，这需要跨学科方法和一些中心研究主题的重新定义。我们研究了输入效率和系统重新设计的范式，这些范式构架了关于农业，有机农业以外的转型的讨论，因此有助于阐明可持续性问题。我们建议将农业生产中的转换和更广泛的转变作为涉及生产和社会实践的多维问题进行分析，这需要跨学科方法和一些中心研究主题的重新定义。我们研究了输入效率和系统重新设计的范式，这些范式构成了关于农业过渡的讨论，超越了有机物，因此有助于阐明可持续性问题。我们建议将农业生产中的转换和更广泛的转变作为涉及生产和社会实践的多维问题进行分析，这需要跨学科方法和一些中心研究主题的重新定义。