Introduction
Following the line of thought of Alrøe and Noe (2008), it cannot be said that the
concept of organic agriculture is fully consolidated. There are several perspectives that
offer different insights, may vary over time and are, in general, not mergeable. The
work of these authors is based on the comparison of three perspectives that, according
to them, are sufficiently distinct to capture much of the heterogeneity in what organic
agriculture is and what makes it move, namely: organic agriculture seen as an
alternative in opposition to the mainstream; organic agriculture seen as a self-organising
system based on common organic values; and organic agriculture seen as a market
opportunity. The first and third perspectives are in general incompatible, while the
second has points of contact and rupture with the other two. Leaving aside more radical
views, we are particular interested in the dialectic established between the protection of
a system based on common values and the integration into the global market.