Standardization and certification of production in commanding labour and labour processes. The case of organic farming in Italy

Journal title SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO
Author/s Giulia Magnano
Publishing Year 2026 Issue 2025/173
Language Italian Pages 28 P. 31-58 File size 376 KB
DOI 10.3280/SL2025-173003
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In recent decades, quantification and targeting have played a central role in the regulation of public policies for the green transition, also influencing the governance and structure of agri-food supply chains. This article analyses the evolution of Eu-ropean and Italian organic agriculture in the context of this restructuring, focusing on the role of certification and standardization in redefining production and labour processes. Adopting the labour regimes approach, it examines the interplay between public and private regulation in the organic supply chain and its impact on the or-ganization of working time and work arrangements. Based on interviews and ethno-graphic observation periods conducted between 2022 and 2024 in Italian fruit and vegetable farms and markets, the study highlights how the drive towards sustaina-bility, by adapting and integrating features that are increasingly close to industrial and intensive production, risks reinforcing mechanisms of invisibilization and flexi-bilization of labour by encouraging further verticalization of the supply chain. The analysis reflects on the internal contradictions of the green transition, taking a critical look at the performative role of quantification and regulatory instruments resulting from a hybridisation of public and private governance in the green transition of the agro-industrial sector.

Keywords: Standardizzazione; Certificazione biologica; Transizione verde; Labour regime.

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Giulia Magnano, Standardizzazione e certificazione della produzione nel comando del lavoro e dei processi lavorativi. Il caso dell’agricoltura biologica in Italia in "SOCIOLOGIA DEL LAVORO " 173/2025, pp 31-58, DOI: 10.3280/SL2025-173003