Organic Cachaça Production Strategy as Sociomaterial Practice

Abstract

The main aim of this study is to investigate the effects of sociomateriality in the strategy for artisanal production of organic cachaça—a well-known Brazilian beverage—by means of the case study method. In addition to enabling reconstruction of the trajectory of the studied organisation and its insertion in the institutional context, this method was suitable for investigating sociomaterial practices, enabling identification of the effects of agency (material, biological and human) on the strategy for artisanal production of organic cachaça. The field research conducted was grounded on the postulates of the realist-constructivist ontology and the theory of strategy as practice, in combination with the sociomateriality approach. It was observed that the strategy for artisanal production of cachaça involves a sociomaterial entanglement and reciprocal agencies that encompass equipment, natural resources, knowledge, experience, learning, traditional knowledge, living beings and chemical elements. This study helps redefine the manner of thinking about and conducting studies on strategy as sociomaterial practices, especially by focusing on the interactivity between the social dimension of this practice and the material and technological framework that supports it.