Skill and deskilling in an uncertain agricultural world: Introduction to the special issue

This is the introductory paper to the June 2025 Outlook on Agriculture Special Issue on agricultural deskilling. As such it provides conceptual and case material to allow a broad range of agriculturally oriented readers to engage with the other seven papers in the issue. Following an exploration of different perspectives on skill, the paper introduces in broad terms the general argument about deskilling. The focus then narrows to the treatment of skill within agricultural development, before turning to the heart of the matter – agricultural deskilling. Finally, the papers in the collection are briefly introduced.