- List of Abbreviations
- List of Figures and Tables
- 1. Unpacking the World Food Economy
- 2. The Rise of a Global Industrial Food Market
- 3. Uneven Agricultural Trade Rules
- 4. Transnational Corporations
- 5. Financialization of Food
- 6. Can the World Food Economy Be Transformed?
- Notes
- Selected Readings
- Index
Food is one of the most basic resources that humans need for daily survival. Forty percent of the world’s population gains a livelihood from agriculture and we all consume food. Yet control over this fundamental resource is concentrated in relatively few hands. The 2008 food price crisis illustrated both the volatility and vulnerability built into the current global food system; at the height of the crisis, the number of hungry people on the planet climbed to over 1 billion. At the same time, there are serious ecological consequences that stem from an increasingly industrial model of agriculture that has spread worldwide.
This book aims to contribute to a fuller understanding of the forces that influence and shape the current global food system. Author Jennifer Clapp explores how corporate control, inequitable international agricultural trade rules, and the financialization of farm commodities have each had a fundamental influence on the practices that dominate today’s global food system. By contrast, farmers and consumers, particularly in the developing world, have had little voice to change the rules of the game. But movements are emerging to challenge the dominant global system. The extent to which these alternative movements can displace it, however, remains to be seen.
Key Features
- This is a new title in Polity's ‘Resources' series, a range of short books designed to provide readers with engaging guides to the geopolitical issues surrounding key resources.
- Written in a highly accessible style, this book delves into the industrial and financial factors that determine the global food system
- The book includes an analysis of recent movments which champion more stable and sustainable alternatives to the current system
- Jennifer Clapp is an expert in environmental and resource studies, and her book will appeal both to the general reader and to students in a range of disciplines
About the Author
- Jennifer Clapp is professor and CIGI Chair in global environmental governance in the Department of Environment and Resource Studies and the Balsillie School of International Affairs at the University of Waterloo.
Book Details
- Paperback: 200 pages
- Publisher: Polity; 1 edition (March 6, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 074564936X
- ISBN-13: 978-0745649368
- Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 1 inches