Fostering Social Connection Responsibility in Value Creation: Lessons From the Assessment of a Local Participatory Guarantee System

This paper builds on the call for further research on stakeholder engagement as a relational and contextual process for value creation by examining a Participatory Guarantee System for organic agriculture in Lombardy (Italy). It emphasises that value creation is a collaborative effort within a stakeholder network, requiring the shared and ongoing responsibility of all actors beyond their specific interests. To explore how such shared responsibility unfolds, data collected through participant observation are analysed using Iris Marion Young's social connection responsibility approach. Specifically, the study investigates factors shaping stakeholder relationships, focusing on four parameters: power, privilege, interest and collective ability. Findings reveal that while the project aimed to foster a sustainable agricultural system, differing stakeholder positions complicate the engagement process, highlighting contradictions between collective goals and individual decisions. Power dynamics and privileges significantly shape stakeholder involvement, affecting motivations and commitment. Additionally, the analysis illustrates tensions between stakeholders' economic roles and their contributions to a shared purpose, revealing how functional or self-interested logics can overshadow relational goals. Theoretically, the study extends stakeholder theory by empirically applying Young's social connection model, demonstrating how power, privilege and interest operate both within and across stakeholder groups, shaping responsibility and collective value creation. Practically, it offers insights for designing and managing multi-stakeholder initiatives through inclusive, deliberative processes that balance power asymmetries, strengthen mutual understanding and sustain engagement across diverse contexts and settings. Indeed, the study underscores the importance of contexts and places in fostering effective engagement and responsibility.