FOOD POLITICS AND DEVELOPMENT (LEACH ET. AL)

Flashcards about food politics and development.

What is the central argument of "Food Politics and Development"?

The article argues that food systems are deeply political arenas where power dynamics influence how food is produced, distributed, and consumed. These politics affect sustainability, equity, and justice in development, and thus food must be analyzed as a central lens for understanding and transforming broader development processes.

How do "food regimes" conceptualize power?

Food regimes theory views power as embedded in historical structures that shape global capitalist food systems. These regimes are characterized by dominant geopolitical forces—such as British imperialism, US post-war influence, and the current corporate regime—that organize production and consumption at a global scale, often marginalizing small producers and shaping national food policies to serve global capital.

What critique do the authors make of SDG-related food policies?

The authors critique SDG food policies for being dominated by technocratic and incrementalist rhetoric that downplays or ignores deeper structural and political inequalities. They argue that such approaches mask the power relations and vested interests that shape food system outcomes, thereby limiting truly transformative change.

4D Approach

integrates multiple theories of power to analyze food system transformation across four dimensions: Direction (where systems are headed), Diversity (plural pathways and alternatives), Distribution (who gains and who loses), and Democratic inclusion (who participates in decision-making). It provides a holistic framework for evaluating and designing equitable and sustainable food system transitions.

Significance of food discourses in food politics

Food discourses shape how problems and solutions in the food system are understood and acted upon. They are rooted in power/knowledge dynamics, where dominant narratives—often technocratic and Western—can marginalize alternative, indigenous, or feminist epistemologies. Controlling discourse is a key form of invisible power in food policy and development.

Seven analytical approaches to food politics

Food interests and incentives, food institutions, food regimes, food contentions and movements, food innovation systems, food discourses, and food socio-natures.

Food interests and incentives

Focuses on rational actors responding to market signals; rooted in neoclassical economics and political pluralism.

Food institutions

Emphasizes rules, norms, and governance structures that shape food systems; grounded in institutional economics and political economy.

Food regimes

Analyzes historical state-capital relations and global structures of food production and consumption; drawn from world systems theory and Marxist analysis

Food contentions and movements

Highlights grassroots mobilization, social movements, and identity-based resistance; influenced by social movement theory.

Food innovation systems

Views power as diffused through socio-technical systems and emphasizes path-dependency and systemic change; derived from innovation studies.

Food discourses

Examines how knowledge, language, and narratives shape power in food systems; rooted in poststructuralism and discourse theory.

Food socio-natures

Considers human-nature entanglements and the agency of non-human actors; informed by political ecology, indigenous thought, and ontological pluralism.