Charting the scientific field: the focus of multinational agrochemistry firms on Romanian academic research ; Moissonner le champ scientifique : l'emprise des firmes multinationales de l'agrochimie sur la recherche académique roumaine
The article aims to shed light on how multinational agrochemistry firms can steer academic research and ensure that it contributes to the promotion of intensive agriculture. On the basis of a survey focusing on the case of Romania, the common explanation which attributes the recruitment of researchers to the sole pull force of new sources of funding is denied. An alternative reading is proposed which highlights the structuring nature of the divisions observed in the scientific field. The Romanian agronomy is the backbone of power relations resulting from a combination of the trajectories followed under the Communist regime and integration into international research networks. Researchers from the Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences and from the Universities of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine have very different positions. This results in violent classification struggles. Agrochemical companies maintain them by providing each other with the means to strengthen their arguments. In return, all of them manage to disqualify the small parcel property and legitimise the construction of large farms geared towards intensive agriculture. ; International audience ; The article aims to shed light on how multinational agrochemistry firms can steer academic research and ensure that it contributes to the promotion of intensive agriculture. On the basis of a survey focusing on the case of Romania, the common explanation which attributes the recruitment of researchers to the sole pull force of new sources of funding is denied. An alternative reading is proposed which highlights the structuring nature of the divisions observed in the scientific field. The Romanian agronomy is the backbone of power relations resulting from a combination of the trajectories followed under the Communist regime and integration into international research networks. Researchers from the Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences and from the Universities of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine have very different ...