scholarly journals Rice, politics and power: the political economy of food insecurity in East Asia

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Belesky
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Food System ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
East Asian ◽  
The Political ◽  
Global Political Economy ◽  
Global Food System ◽  
Global Food

This study explores the critical intersections of food, politics and power in East Asia, and more broadly in the global political economy. Agri-food relations are often either overlooked or marginalised within the discipline of international political economy (IPE). This is despite the constitutive role that these relations have played historically in the construction of the inter-state system and their substantive significance in contemporary global political economy. The current restructuring of the global food system and its sociopolitical and economic coordinates has significance for comprehending the broader configuration and transformation of the contemporary global political economy. This study has three main objectives: (1) to provide a critical political economy study of the complex interplay between rice, politics and power in East Asia; (2) to make a contribution to understanding the evolution of the regional and global food system through an historically-contextualised exploration of the political economy of rice in the East Asian region; and (3) to make a contribution towards an alternative analytical framework for the political economy of food insecurity in the region. This study focuses on the agricultural commodity of rice as a prism through which to examine and explore the complex and multidimensional nature of food insecurity in the region, with rice providing a lens through which to explore social relations and relations of power that underpin the political economy of food and agriculture. This study has identified a gap in literature in relation to a contemporary analysis of the political economy of rice, with a second gap appearing in relation to the evolution of the global food system from an East Asian perspective.

State-Led Capitalism in East Asia

2019 ◽  
pp. 187-235
Author(s):  
Thomas Kalinowski
Keyword(s):  
International Economic ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
East Asia ◽  
East Asian ◽  
Developmental State ◽  
The Political ◽  
World Region ◽  
The Third ◽  
The World ◽  
The Third World

East Asia is the third world region that is crucial for an investigation of international economic conflicts and cooperation. The rise of East Asia as the ‘factory of the world’ since the 1970s is as important for the global political economy as US-led financial globalization and European integration. This chapter begins with an explanation of East Asia’s role in the trilemma triangle and then turns to an analysis of the historic genesis of the East Asian (developmental) state-led model of capitalism. We then investigate the economic origins of the East Asian success story and in particular the formation of large export-oriented business conglomerates. Finally, we look at the political foundation of the East Asian model, which can be described as an authoritarian corporatist model that is shaped by the alliance of state and business at the expense of labour.

scholarly journals Towards a New Political Economy of Food: State Capitalism and the Emergence of Neomercantilism in the Global Food System

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Belesky
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Food System ◽  
World Order ◽  
Food Regime ◽  
Sovereign Wealth Funds ◽  
State Capitalism ◽  
Global Food System ◽  
Foreign Land ◽  
Global Food

The current restructuring of the global food system and its sociopolitical and economic coordinates has significance for comprehending the broader configuration and transformation of the contemporary global political economy. Much of the food regime literature to date has focused on power relations between the Global North and the Global South, and the neoliberal characteristics of the corporate food regime. However, this literature has often overlooked the nuances in varieties of capitalism and largely ignored the rise of ‘state capitalism’, the emergence of ‘neomercantilism’ and the incipient importance of South- South relations in the global food system. This paper contends that the neoliberal corporate food regime is in a period of transition – and the analytical contours of this emergent food regime cannot be adequately comprehended without recognising the importance of neomercantilism and the ways in which this paradigm shift is reshaping the dynamics of the global food system. This transition is typified by the proliferation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) that are intensifying competition for natural resources across the globe. This paper examines the emergence of neomercantilism and its constitutive role in the evolving global food regime and evaluates the question – ‘To what extent does this emergent paradigm contradict or reaffirm a neoliberal food regime?’ It situates this contemporary conjecture in the global food regime within the context of a transition from a unipolar world order under US hegemony towards a multipolar order and a multipolar global food system. This transition is characterised by the rise of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICs), and the emergence of state capitalism and neomercantilism. Additionally, the dynamics of the proliferation of these entities and their role in securing global supply chains for food, feed and fuel through the acquisition of foreign land and natural resources, are also examined.

Food, Water and the Consequences of Society Not Valuing the Environment

2019 ◽  
pp. 858-878 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Allan
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Food System ◽  
Food Prices ◽  
The Political ◽  
Environmental Services ◽  
Accounting Systems ◽  
The Impact

The first purpose of this chapter is to highlight the impact of the food system on environmental and human health. The delivery of secure affordable food is a political imperative. Unfortunately, the food system that delivers it is environmentally blind. Food prices do not effectively reflect the value of food and often seriously mislead on the costs and impacts of food production. For example, actual food production takes place in a failed market—the value of environmental services such as water and the supporting ecosystems are not taken into account. The second purpose is to summarize and expose the political economy of the different ‘market’ modes of the food system. It is shown that there are weak players such as underrewarded and undervalued farmers who support society by producing food and stewarding our unvalued environment. The inadequacies of accounting systems are also critiqued.

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