Politicized Sustainability and Agricultural Policy: Comparing Norm Understandings of International Organizations

The article connects research on politicization, policy change and policy autonomy, and critical constructivist norm research. It asks how the politicized global norm cluster of sustainability impacts international organizations’ (IOs) agricultural policies. The qualitative comparative case study analysis shows that the FAO, UNEP and WTO react to politicized sustainability but pursue different norm interpretations and prioritizations of agricultural approaches. The different understandings are explained with institutional factors (policy autonomy and reflective capacities) that channel norm interpretations and prioritizations of agricultural approaches. The article concludes that politicization is necessary but not sufficient to explain IOs’ norm understandings and policies towards sustainable agriculture.