Congratulations to our newest PhD, Daniel Ortiz Gallego, who defended his doctoral dissertation on October 8, 2026.
Daniel completed his thesis, "'Actually Existing' Agroecologies: Politics, Policies and Practices in Agrarian Movements and Agricultural Research Institutions," under the supervision of Dr. Diana Córdoba.
Abstract:
This dissertation examines how social movements and agricultural research institutions materialize agroecology through concrete politics, policies, and practices in the pursuit of transforming the industrial capitalist agri-food system. While social movements advocate for agroecological transformations as revolutionary changes based on peasant farmers’ leadership, knowledge, and self-organization, institutions tend to approach agroecology through a reformist and cumulative transition based on technical knowledge, innovations, and cooperation between various agri-food actors.
The agroecological scholarship often focuses on examining social and ecological principles to either transform or (re)design the agri-food system, which may reproduce an idealized, aspirational, and normative representation of agroecology. Contrary to these ‘idealized’ agroecologies, this dissertation proposes a shift to study ‘actually existing’ agroecologies. This analysis frames how agroecologies interact with the dominant structures and institutions of capitalist agriculture in complex, unexpected, and contradictory ways. Focusing on agroecological initiatives by social movements related to La Via Campesina in Colombia and actors participating in the CGIAR’s Agroecology Initiative in Peru, the dissertation asks: How do agrarian movements and agricultural research institutions engage with ‘actually existing’ agroecologies in relation to capitalist agriculture?
This research question was addressed by implemented an Extended Case Method, through which theory, research design, and techniques employed during fieldwork were articulated. Ethnographic fieldwork was carried out at various scales and sites in Colombia (Puerto Rico, Valle, and Bogota) and Peru (Ucayali). The interviews were conducted with 63 participants, including social movement leaders, farmers, researchers, NGO professionals, and rural extension agents. This dissertation contributes to develop an agrarian political economy framework for analyzing ‘actually existing’ agroecologies, focusing on their practical manifestations rather than their idealized forms in discourse. This analytical approach enables development scholars and practitioners to address the politico-economic forces that shape agroecology as a science, practice, movement, and policy. The political economy of ‘actually existing’ agroecologies highlights the historical, material, and contradictory conditions under which agroecologies develop within capitalism, framing them as concrete forces that reproduce and transform capitalist agriculture.
An earlier version of Chapter 3 of Daniel's dissertation was published in co-authorship with his supervisor, Dr. Diana Córdoba, in the Journal of Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems.
We wish Daniel all the best on the next chapter of his professional and academic journey!