Constructing categories, shaping transitions
The institutionalization of bioinputs in Argentina
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 17830935 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Andrés Oscar Pedro Mondaini (Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Costa Rica, corresponding author), Andres Mondaini (0000-0002-1061-1222, Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO)) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-27 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Tapuya Latin American Science Technology and Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2572-9861 • E-ISSN: 2572-9861 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/25729861.2026.2615489 |
| OpenAlex | W7155988747 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 21 |
Bioinputs have gained prominence in agricultural policy debates in Latin America as part of broader bioeconomy agendas. In Argentina, they have been promoted as environmentally friendly alternatives to synthetic agrochemicals, yet their institutionalization unfolded within a highly entrenched agrochemical regime. This article analyzes how bioinputs emerged and stabilized as a policy category, and what this process reveals about socio-technical transitions in agro-export-oriented economies. Drawing on socio-technical transitions scholarship and Science and Technology Studies (STS), the article conceptualizes bioinputs as a performative socio-technical category the meaning of which is actively constructed through policy instruments, advisory arenas, and actor coalitions. The analysis is based on semi-structured interviews and documentary research covering the period 2012–2024. The findings show that bioinputs were institutionalized through mechanisms of incremental stabilization, selective accommodation, and discursive reframing rather than through disruptive technological substitution. While these processes rendered bioinputs visible and governable, they also constrained their transformative potential. The article argues that sustainability transitions in agro-export economies may advance less through regime displacement than through the institutionalization of flexible categories that enable coexistence and partial change within dominant regimes
Face (sociological concept) · Field (mathematics) · Government (linguistics) · Institutionalisation · Work (physics) · Bioeconomy and Sustainability Development · Biomedical Ethics and Regulation · Biotechnology and Related Fields
The Provoked Economy
Is Economics Performative? Option Theory and the Construction of Derivatives Markets
Creative destruction or mere niche support? Innovation policy mixes for sustainability transitions
Sustainability transitions
The governance of sustainable socio-technical transitions
What is protective space? Reconsidering niches in transitions to sustainability
Glocalization
States of Knowledge
Orígenes, genealogía y expansión de la concepción actual de bioeconomía en América Latina y el Caribe
Socio-technical transitions to sustainability
Instituciones, agentes y proyectos para el saber agropecuario entre fines del siglo XIX y la revolución verde en Argentina”
Las promesas de la Genética al capitalismo agrario pampeano, 1912-1943
An agenda for sustainability transitions research
Making a Place for Alternative Technologies
Introduction
Regime Resistance against Low-Carbon Transitions
| Highly cited | No |
|---|