Changing governments, kitchens, supermarkets, firms and farms: the governance of transitions between societal practices and supply systems

In current studies of transitions, more often than not the units of analysis are defined by supply systems. It is fair to say that more attention is due to the agency involved in daily practices as well as to the mutual, complex interferences of different practices into wider patterns of societal change. Seeking to contribute to bridging that gap, this chapter draws on the case of the modernization of food consumption and production in the Netherlands, taking a longitudinal perspective so as to view both sides as historically contingent and elucidate long term dynamics. Consumption and production are treated more or less symmetrically, with specific attention to the infrastructures between consumption practices and the production system. As a conceptual scheme for understanding transition dynamics, I will use the multilevel perspective (MLP), as well as a simple scheme that relates power dynamics to multilevel dynamics to understand inertia and resistance against a transition, as well as the way in which the dispositional power implied in a (changing, emerging) regime may shape practices and their (constructive) interaction. Modernization in consumption and in productioon processes are rather similar in terms of the (multiple) underlying ‘mechanisms’ of multilevel dynamics. This is not just because both sides share some elements at the landscape (e.g. cultural inclinations) and regime (e.g. knowledge infrastructure) level, but is also due due to the role of intermediary practices, especially those around supermarkets.