Glossary

This website operates by engaging with a range of keywords that help us make sense of the social production of institutional landscapes. Keywords are important empirical terms that are frequently used in everyday language [1], but that – at a higher level – should always receive critical scrutiny.

It is a hallmark of the financial industry to use opaque language and be shrouded in operational mystery. Things too easily remain a black box since they are considered too technical and the realm of experts. This glossary wants to undo this. It provides a short but hopefully useful cultural and etymological analysis of keywords circulating in the agri-investment space: We do not only have to ask what is represented by them and what social role the phenomena designated by them (or keywords themselves) play, but also where they come from.

If you notice a term within a section of this website that is not listed here and remains unexplained in the text, feel free to contact me so we can continuously update this website.

[1] Williams R (1985 [1976]) Keywords. A vocabulary of culture and society. Rev. ed. New York: Oxford University Press.