PCI 2025 – Food Politics, Cryptocurrencies, Industrialization & Informational Capitalism

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58 question-and-answer flashcards covering food politics, cryptocurrencies, industrialisation strategies, and informational capitalism based on the lecture notes.

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58 Terms

1
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What is the Green Revolution?

A post-World-War-II technological revolution in agriculture that arose from fear of food shortages. (Fumey, 2024, p.30)

2
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Why is food considered political?

Because control over food production and distribution confers political and social power. (Fumey, 2024, p.15–18)

3
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Which two staple foods are most important for humans?

Rice and wheat. (Fumey, 2024, p.51)

4
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What are food systems?

Complex networks of actors and processes—production, transformation, distribution, and consumption—that shape the food supply. (Fumey, 2024, p.42–45)

5
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What characterises 21st-century agri-food policies?

A focus on global food security, farm subsidies, and sustainability within open markets. (Fumey, 2024, p.25–29)

6
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What is food sovereignty and why is it important?

The right of peoples to define their own agricultural and food policies, grounded in sustainable local production. (Fumey, 2024, p.88–89)

7
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Why were cereals pivotal to the rise of civilisations?

Their storability and nutritional value supported market economies and geopolitical power structures. (Fumey, 2024, p.53)

8
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What role does soy play in today’s food geopolitics?

It is the most widely used plant protein in Southeast Asia and a key ingredient in global animal feed. (Fumey, 2024, p.55)

9
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Why can taste be regarded as geopolitics?

Because industrial strategies, advertising, and market control shape what people eat. (Fumey, 2024, p.69–72)

10
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What agricultural policy model does Europe promote?

A mixed model of subsidies, common-market protection, and promotion of regional products. (Fumey, 2024, p.85–87)

11
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Why do states view cryptocurrencies as a threat?

They hinder governmental oversight and taxation by enabling untaxed, hard-to-trace transactions. (Castells, 2024, p.86)

12
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What is Bitcoin “mining”?

The process of validating transactions and creating new bitcoins. (Castells, 2024, p.81)

13
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Define cryptocurrency.

A form of money that exists as bits exchanged across digital networks without physical backing or intermediaries. (Castells, 2024, p.78)

14
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What enabled the transformation of financial markets?

Deregulation, liberalisation, and widespread use of computer networks. (Castells, 2024, p.76)

15
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What does the text say about algorithms and privacy?

Algorithms dominate daily life and give tech firms concentrated power, threatening personal privacy. (Castells, 2024, p.72)

16
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How does digital money differ from traditional money?

It is purely digital, lacks physical backing, and operates without banks or state guarantees. (Castells, 2024, p.78)

17
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Why did England try to stop industrialisation in the 13 colonies?

Industrial growth could grant the colonies economic and subsequently political independence. (Gullo, 2016, p.111)

18
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What role did the U.S. state play in early industrialisation?

It imposed tariffs, funded infrastructure, and pursued long-term industrial policies. (Gullo, 2016, p.124–125)

19
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Which economic model triumphed in the U.S. after the Civil War?

An industrialist, protectionist model centred on a strong state and domestic production. (Gullo, 2016, p.118–120)

20
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What event nearly ruined early U.S. industry?

A flood of cheaper European imports and British port exclusivity laws. (Gullo, 2016, p.115–116)

21
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How did Germany become an industrial power?

Through ideological insubordination backed by active state support. (Gullo, 2016, ch.5)

22
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What function does surveillance serve in informational capitalism?

It gathers and sells personal data as a new basis for capital accumulation. (Castells, 2000, 2012)

23
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Who poses the greatest threat to privacy, according to Castells?

Technology corporations that commercially exploit user data. (Castells, 2001)

24
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What do cryptocurrencies represent in global finance?

A shift toward decentralised monetary systems beyond government control. (Castells, 2000)

25
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Which event spurred the rise of cryptocurrencies?

The 2008 global financial crisis, which eroded trust in traditional finance. (Castells, 2000)

26
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What main barrier hinders global cryptocurrency adoption?

Regulatory resistance from governments and traditional financial actors. (Castells, 2001)

27
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What role does the internet play in using cryptocurrencies?

It provides a decentralised blockchain network independent of any central bank. (Castells, 2001)

28
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What was the goal of the Meiji Revolution?

To help Japan reach a new power threshold and avoid subordination. (Gullo, 2016, p.168)

29
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What early measure did the Meiji government adopt?

Founding state-run enterprises to launch industrialisation. (Gullo, 2016, p.169)

30
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Why is Japan’s strategy called “silent insubordination”?

It built internal strength without overtly challenging foreign powers. (Gullo, 2016, p.167)

31
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What lesson did Japan draw from China’s 19th-century plight?

Modernise rapidly or risk colonisation. (Gullo, 2016, p.164)

32
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What was Sun Yat-sen’s aim in founding the Kuomintang?

To unite traders, landowners, intellectuals, and peasants into one national front. (Gullo, 2016, p.189)

33
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What core ailment did Sun Yat-sen identify in China?

Loss of national consciousness and loyalty to the nation-state. (Gullo, 2016, p.193)

34
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What remedy did Sun Yat-sen propose for China’s poverty?

Industrial development modelled on the U.S. and Germany. (Gullo, 2016, p.196)

35
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What form of capitalism did modern China adopt?

A state-driven national capitalism tightly controlled by the central government. (Gullo, 2016, p.198)

36
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How does blockchain enable new digital currencies and smart contracts?

By allowing secure, automated, intermediary-free transactions on a distributed ledger. (Castells, 2024, p.84)

37
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Why do some governments oppose cryptocurrencies?

They weaken state control over economic transactions and fiscal regulation. (Castells, 2024, p.86)

38
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What core function does blockchain serve in cryptocurrencies?

It records and verifies transactions securely and immutably through distributed consensus. (Castells, 2024, p.80)

39
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What was the original intention behind creating cryptocurrencies?

To free individuals from state control over money. (Castells, 2024, p.88)

40
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How does Gullo describe the U.S. “foundational insubordination”?

Simultaneous political independence, economic protectionism, and ideological rejection of free-trade orthodoxy. (Gullo, 2022, p.69–70)

41
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What was the first U.S. economic measure after independence, and its aim?

The 1789 Hamilton Tariff, designed to protect infant U.S. industries from British competition. (Gullo, 2022, p.72–73)

42
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What role did the state play in U.S. industrialisation?

It was the chief driver—building infrastructure, funding education, and protecting key sectors. (Gullo, 2022, p.73–74)

43
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How did the U.S. contradict its own model abroad?

By advocating free trade internationally while practising protectionism at home. (Gullo, 2022, p.71–72)

44
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Why does Gullo call the U.S. the first peripheral nation to escape underdevelopment?

It combined ideological insubordination with sustained protectionism to reach great-power status. (Gullo, 2022, p.70–71)

45
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What was Alexander Hamilton’s contribution to U.S. economic policy?

He crafted early protectionist measures and championed industrialisation for true independence. (Gullo, 2022, p.72–73)

46
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What lesson does the U.S. case offer Latin America, per Gullo?

Political independence must be paired with economic and ideological insubordination and active state development policies. (Gullo, 2022, p.72–73)

47
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How does Gullo define “state impulse”?

The state acting as catalyst for national power through economic, educational, and technological policies. (Gullo, 2022, p.74–75)

48
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What critique does Gullo make of core countries’ free-trade discourse?

It serves to block industrialisation in peripheral nations, though the core never followed it when developing. (Gullo, 2022, p.71–72)

49
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Why is ideological independence vital for national development?

Without breaking dominant thinking, a nation cannot build an autonomous project and remains subordinate. (Gullo, 2022, p.70–71)

50
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Why did Britain’s Industrial Revolution mark a new power threshold?

It made Britain the first industrial hegemon able to dictate global rules. (Gullo, 2015, p.91)

51
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How did Britain wield free trade as a tool of domination?

By opening foreign markets to its goods while shielding its own, crippling peripheral industries. (Gullo, 2015, p.106)

52
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What steps did England take to block industrialisation elsewhere?

It banned exporting machinery and experts and promoted free-trade ideology. (Gullo, 2015, p.97)

53
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What strategy did rising powers follow instead?

They ignored free-trade dogma, protected domestic industries, and used the state to build strength. (Gullo, 2015, p.98)

54
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What is “informational capitalism” according to Castells?

An economy where capital accumulation hinges on collecting, processing, and monetising personal data via digital networks. (Castells, 2009, p.3)

55
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What is the main revenue model of Meta and Google?

Personalised advertising that generates 98% of Meta’s and 81% of Google’s income. (Ang, 2022, p.4)

56
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What makes TikTok’s business model distinctive?

It fuses advertising with user-generated content delivered through hyper-personalised algorithms. (Ang, 2022, p.5)

57
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According to Gullo, what three dimensions are required for genuine independence?

Political sovereignty, economic protectionism/industrialisation, and ideological break from prevailing free-trade thought.

58
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How do tech companies monetise user data in informational capitalism?

By converting behavioural data into targeted advertising and other data-driven services that generate revenue.