ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we will further explore the insights from the two preceding chapters by drawing on preliminary empirical work on the domain of agriculture, focusing on the Netherlands. By and large, it seems, this history well refl ects the patterns of modernization theory (Part III, Chapter 1). We will divide our narrative into three parts which each deal with a period in which one of these patterns prevail: 1886-1974 (dominated by simple modernization), 1974-1996 (counter-modernization), and the period since 1996 (when refl exive modernization may take off). While the cutoff for these years is somewhat arbritary, they mark several key moments: in 1896, after pressure from farmers who organized themselves, government installed the Agricultural Commission, which subequently triggered a modernization process; in 1974, the then minister of agriculture felt the need to respond-albeit negatively-to widespread concerns on manure, while equally widespread concerns on overproduction evolved into a priority on the public and political agenda; and in 1996, the “Landbouwschap,” the central player in the Iron Triangle, was dissolved.
