Scientists’ Entry into the Organization of the Agricultural Market

Usually, the role of mass distribution and professional agricultural organizations is analyzed to emphasize the social construction of agricultural markets. However, with the promotion of short circuits, it emerges that control over the state, one of most powerful makers of markets, is also carried out by scientists. Thanks to increasing funds coming from local communities, researchers have succeeded in making short circuits a promising subject within the agricultural sciences. The intellectualization of public policies has facilitated their entry into a working group organized by the agricultural minister to define short circuits. Moreover, it encourages the emergence and the redefinition of a request for expertise, of which scholars are the recipients. Scientists are no longer only the link between economic actors and the state responsible for the regulation of market exchanges. Rather, they contribute to redefining intermediations between farmers and consumers.