Abstract

Viticulture and wine making are a key part of the socio-ecological landscape of central and south-central Chile. The sector is comprised of both dominant export-oriented companies (oriented to monoculture and agribusiness) and traditional small-scale production (more-or-less locally embedded and community oriented). Since the 1990s, different small-scale viticulture organizations emerged to deal with different challenges imposed by globalisation in a neoliberal institutional setting which favours extractive forms of productions (environmental resource intensive). In this article, we use the Alternative Food Network (AFN) theoretical framework and hybrid governance approach to analyse the governance tensions in five small-scale viticulture organisations from Marga-Marga, Lontue and Itata valleys. Using interviews and social cartography as methods, the study shows how the territorial strategies of AFNs shape governance tensions on three dimensions: geographic space, environmental resources and human relations. Finally, the article proposes a conceptual framework to understand the relationship between scalar dynamics and the socio-environmental core values, strategic objectives and societal missions of AFNs.