Examining the case of the Stockholm metropolitan area, this thesis analyses the misunderstandings produced by the translation of sustainable development into the creation of territories (territorialisation), namely the application of political discourse to local areas policies. More specifically, this work calls into question the premise of sustainability of organic agriculture through the study of networks of organic farmers in Greater Stockholm. Thanks to a geographical approach emphasizing the social and political dimensions of sustainable development, we develop a matrix of indexes in order to assess the sustainability of the food production system created by the network of organic farmers, both at the level of the farms and the distribution network. The study highlights how direct selling groups add social and economical value to the viability of farms. They also attempt to redefine the quality of food on local bases as well as on trust and service. Organic farmers are then studied in their territory. We compare the municipal political discourse in three territories (Huddinge, Södertälje and Enköping) with the farmers' practices in order to highlight the farmers' role in local sustainable development projects. Organic farmers appear to be a minor voice within local systems of governance, a situation which undermines the idea of Swedish context as a model for the implementation of sustainable development at the territorial level, and a European pioneer in the development of organic agriculture.
