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17/1/2017 Politicaleconomistshavebeenblindedbytheapparentmarginalizationoflandandfood

Revuedelargulation
Capitalisme,institutions,pouvoirs

MaisondesSciencesdel'HommeParisNord

Rgulationsagricolesetformesdemobilisationsociale
Institutionsettransformationsdel'agricultureetdel'alimentation

Politicaleconomistshavebeen
blindedbytheapparent
marginalizationoflandandfood
InterviewwithHarrietFriedmann/EntretienavecHarriet
Friedmann

H F ,B D G A

Notesdelardaction
HarrietFriedmanisafoodsystemanalyst,writerandlecturer.Thiswasanundefinedtopicinthe
Englishliteratureinthe1970s,whenshefirststudiedtheworldwheatmarketforherdoctorateher
goalwastounderstandworldeconomyinductivelyandholistically.Unawareofearlycommodity
studies,suchastheworkofHaroldInnissheintuitedthattheemergenceofapricegovernedworld
wheatmarketinthelate19thcenturywouldbeanintrinsicallyimportantcasestudy,fromsettler
farmstosettlerstateformation,railways,finance,migration,logisticsandinterstaterelations.Her
PhD(Harvard,1977)turnedouttocrosstwounrelatedfieldsofRuralSociologyandWorldSystems,
andledtoinfluentialarticlesonfarmingsystemsandalong,fruitfulcollaborationwithPhilip
McMichaelonfoodregimes.Intheearly1980s,FriedmannencounteredFrenchliteratureonlagro
alimentaire,rgulation,andlepetitproducteurmarchand.Sincethe1990s,shealsoworkedwiththe
pioneeringTorontoFoodPolicyCouncilanditseventualembraceofcityregionalfoodsystems.She
followedthefoodfarmingthreadfromSociologyintotheCentreforInternationalStudiesandthe
DepartmentofGeographyandPlanningattheUniversityofToronto.SheisProfessorEmeritusof
SociologybasedattheMunkSchoolofGlobalAffairsattheUniversityofToronto,VisitingProfessor
ofPoliticalEconomyatCarletonUniversity(Ottawa),andformerlyVisitingProfessorofAgrarian,
Food,andEnvironmentalStudiesattheInternationalInstituteofSocialStudies,TheHague
(ErasmusUniversity).http://www.harrietfriedmann.ca/
Publications
WorldMarket,State,andFamilyFarm:SocialBasesofHouseholdProductionintheeraofWage
Labour,ComparativeStudiesinSocietyandHistory,Volume20,No4,October1978,p.54586.

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AgricultureandtheStateSystem:TheRiseandDeclineofNationalAgriculture(withPhilip
McMichael),SociologiaRuralisXIX(2),1989:93117.(withPhilipMcMichael).
InternationalPoliticalEconomyofFood:AGlobalCrisis,NewLeftReviewno197,Jan./Feb.1993,
p.2957.(Ithinkthisonemayuseregulationtheorymorethantheothers.)
FromColonialismtoGreenCapitalism:SocialMovementsandtheEmergenceofFoodRegimes,
inFrederickh.ButtelandPhilipd.McMichael,eds.NewDirectionsintheSociologyofInternational
Development.ResearchinRuralSociologyandDevelopment,11.Amsterdam:Elsevier,2005,p.227
64.
FoodRegimeAnalysisandAgrarianQuestions:WideningtheConversation(commenton
BernsteinMcMichaelexchange),forthcoming,May2016,JournalofPeasantStudies

Texteintgral
1 1.Couldyoupresentthecorepropositionsofyourwork?Itsevolutionboth
thematicallyandtheoretically?
2 Food regime analysis began with the ambition to understand systems of interstate
powerinrelationtochangesinclassformationandinternationaldivisionoflabor.Italso
aspirestounderstandcapitalinitsspecificconfigurationsinrelationtolandandbodies,
that is, to nature, including human nature. Land and food are always foundations of
human society Marx defined a mode of production as a relation of humans to nature,
whichinturndefineshumansocialrelations,includingsocialclasses.Propertyisfirstof
allland,andruleisfirstofallofterritory.Foodismeansofconsumption,butitislarger
thanthesecategoriesofcapitalisteconomy.Itisbasictoreproductionofhumanbodies,
minds and spirits across modes of production, and to human shaping of land and
landscapes.
3 This is the basic starting point for food regime analysis. How is land used, where, by
whom, in what relations? Who eats what, how do they get it, or fail to get it? What
relations of power and accumulation shape and are shaped by the answers to these
questions?
4 Periodization of food regimes explicitly focuses on centrality of rulemaking by a
hegemonicstate,andthespecificityoftherulesineachperiod.Therulesbecomegeneral,
andworkoutinwaysspecifictothelocationofeachstate(andthelegacyitcarriesfrom
pastregimes)withinthesystemofstates.DrawingespeciallyonArrighi,andthespecifics
ofthemonetaryrulesshapinghegemonicregimes,foodregimehistorythereforefocused
on Britain as central to regulation of a specific type of state system a set of rival
imperial blocs and how the mode of consumption was organized in Britain through
creation of an imperially organized wheat complex in the late 19 th century. The history
thenfocusedontheUSascentraltoregulationofadifferenttypeofstatesystemone
thatappearedtobenationalandemergedintandemwiththedisintegrationofimperial
blocs. The regime of intensive accumulation was most apparent in the US and through
specificmechanisms,whichIcalledatensionbetweenreplicationandintegration,and
whichworkedthroughMarshallAid,alsocametocharacterizeEurope.
5 Wecouldonlyhavewrittenthisatthemomentwhenthecrisisofnationalagricultural
and food regulation was beginning in the 1980s, as the balance of forces among First,
SecondandThirdWorldsbegantogivewaytoanewlinedemarcatingNorthandSouth.
At the time, the dynamism continued from the 1970s, with Dtente between Cold War
blocs, and the rising strength of peace and labour movements. These, along with
initiatives from UNCTAD and the Brandt Commission, still made the globalization
outcomeseemlesslikelythanwhatcametobecalledneoliberalism,ashift(evenacoup)
managedthroughtheexperimentalandeventuallysuccessfultransformationoftheIMF
intoanenforcerofThirdWorlddebt.Thismadeapparentthehiddeninternationalrules
which had previously operated implicitly in keeping the world awash in surplus wheat
andkeepingpricesdown.AsIwrotelater,itallowedtherulestobenamedandcritically
reframed. Aid of the type of concessional sales in inconvertible currencies came to be

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called dumping, and what remained of aid was changed, e.g., as the World Food
Programmeestablishedduringthefoodcrisisoftheearly1970s,receivedcontributionsin
money and multilaterally, and bought grain from local farmers in recipient countries
ratherthanunderminetheirmarketsandfarmerswithforeignsupply.
6 2. What was the influence of the Regulation Theory (RT) upon the food
regimeconcept?
7 Food regimes share an idea of distinct phases of accumulation with a number of
approaches, including Regulation Theory. Kondratiev cycles, for example, were an
important starting point for world systems theory as first articulated by Wallerstein.
McMichaelandIweremoreinterestedinGiovaniArrighisapproachofSystemicCyclesof
Accumulation, which he was developing for several years before publishing The Long
20thcentury 1.Briefly,RegulationTheory,whichcametousmainlyviaAglietta,gaveusa
language of extensive and intensive accumulation to understand the shift from
cheapeningthewagebillofindustrialworkersinthe19thcenturyBritaincentredregime
(one role of wheat imports within the British Empire), to incorporating the mode of
consumption into accumulation itself in the last part of the 20th century, when the US
was central to regime with different monetary rules and interstate relations, and with
deepeningofindustrialproductioninagricultureandevermorecomplexmanufacturing
andlogisticalaspectsofthefoodsystem.
8 From the RT perspective, we might say that imperial blocs coincided with extensive
accumulationandthatthesystemofnationalstatesemergingfromthedisintegrationof
empires coincided with intensive accumulation, and both regimes distributed the
dominantmodedifferentlyacrossplaces.
9 Intensive accumulation can be seen in the postwar shift in the mode of consumption
towardslivestockproductsandprocessedfoodsthesechangesindietswereimplicatedin
thetwodynamiccommoditycomplexesofthefoodregimeafterWWII:thesoyamaize
livestock complex (which was influenced by the beautiful book by J.P. Bertrand,
C.Laurent,V.Leclercq,Lemondedusoja)2,andthedurablefoodscomplex.Theseshifts
occurredbecauseofpricessetbyUSdomesticcommodityprograms,especiallyformaize,
whichhadrippleeffectsthroughotherfoodcommoditiesandeventuallyenergyandother
industrial commodities. The effects of maize and soya in the rise of a large animal feed
industryspreadtoothercountries,startingwithEuropeunderMarshallAid,becauseof
specific mechanisms (aid) made possible for the first time in history by the Bretton
Woods monetary system. This was a more or less invisible and unintended effect of the
specific conditions surrounding the postwar arrangements of the workings of US
hegemony. Even if RT is accurate in depicting a shift from extensive to intensive
accumulation,ithastoworkthroughspecificinstitutionsthese,inturn,operatewithina
system of power relations negotiated and instituted among unequal states. Again, Le
Monde du Soja was important in breaking out of the national frame of the French
literature as I knew it, though it was partial in depicting the emerging and changing
geographicalandcommoditycomplexinvolvedinlivestock.
10 3.WhataretheRTlimitationsinthisrespect?
11 The limit of RT for our purposes was its focus on national economy and therefore
implicitly on regulation by the national state. We needed to move beyond the
internationaltothetransnationalnotvaguelyglobalbutspecifically identifying
geographicalflows.ThenationalstatesofRT,moreover,mainlyFirstWorld(orNorth
such changes in language and groupings are part of world political history). We rarely
used the terms Fordist and PostFordist since the terms seemed to apply only to
(some) national economies whereas we were seeking to characterize historically specific
dynamics of the global system. Food regime analysis seeks to analyze an evolving
structuredtotalitytheevolutionproceedsthroughthresholdshiftsfromstabilitytocrisis
and to a new stable regime possibilities for shifts are finite but multiple and much
dependsonagency,contingency,unanticipatedoutcomes,andsoon.

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12 4. Has the US rural sociology been influenced by other French speaking


intellectualstreams?
13 The influence of RT on food regimes would have been one entry point for French
theories,butlittlenoticedbywhatwasthenaninsulardiscipline.Ourfirstarticleonfood
regimeswasaresponsetoaninvitationfromFredButteltowritesomethingtogetherfora
specialissueofSociologiaRuralishewasediting.Hehadnoticedoursimilarapproaches
to 19th century history of settler colonies. Buttel was a remarkable figure in US Rural
Sociology. He made a bridge between American and European Rural Sociology. Fred
influenced American rural sociology to reduce the dominant focus on tracking the
inevitabledeclineofruralcommunities.Alongwithothers,heencouragednewareas,such
as Sociology/Political Economy of Agriculture, Environmental Sociology, and an
internationalturn.
14 Thestudyofdynamicsoffamilyfarmswasanotherentrypoint.Inmyownwork,Iwas
influencedbyServolin.IthinkIdiscoveredhisworkthroughaCanadiananthropologist,
JacquesChevalier,butIamnotsure.IamprettysurethatnotmanyUSruralsociologists
were aware of it or noticed the citations. I think other anthropologists, such as Gavin
Smith,broughtinMeillassoux,orperhapsIpickedupthosethreadsintheUK.Itislong
agonow!
15 Athirdentrypointwouldhavebeentheideaoflesystmeagroalimentaire.Illsay
moreaboutthatinthenextquestion,butnotethatWinsonsTheIntimateCommodity 3
was a key text introducing the French idea to Canada, and to US rural sociologists
studyingcommoditysystems.BillFriedlandwasapioneerwithhisstudyoflettuce,and
also a powerful advocate for political economy of agriculture, both in the US and in the
RC40 (Research Comittee) of the International Society for Rural Sociology (which he
played a key role in founding). Food regime analysis and the peasant debates in The
Journal of Peasant Studies were part of a revival of political economy in US Rural
Sociology.Frenchtheoriesinformedboth,buttheinabilityorreluctanceofAnglophonesto
read French made some of us ambassadors who were sometimes credited with work we
were introducing as background to our ideas. I am grateful for the ideas that emerged
within the somewhat selfcontained world of French agrifood research, and hope the
otherwiseimportantoutwardturnwillnotcauseitsuniquenesstowither.
16 5. Can we explain the recent adoption of the food regime approach by
French speaking researchers by specific interpersonal or interteam
links?Howtheselinksdeveloped?
17 Idontknowhowwidelyithasbeenadoptedorbywhomexactly.Icanonlyanswerfor
my own connections and informal observations. Opening to food regimes seems to me
part of a larger opening of French intellectual life to outside (Anglophone) perspectives.
Theinternationalstreamofagrifoodstudieshasalonghistory,e.g.,LeMondeduSojaby
Bertrand,LaurentandLeclercq,helpedmeunderstandthegloballivestockcomplex.As
you can see, I encountered strands of thought through distinct pathways, without
knowing their connections within French thought. I encountered ideas about both
agrifoodsystemsandfamilyfarms,andbothweremainlyfocusedonFranceandFrench
data. Based on my very partial and selective reading, it seems to me that part of the
generationalshiftfromMalassistoRastoinisaturntowardstheinternational.
18 IcontactedpeoplebecauseIhadreadtheirworkMcMichaeldoesntreadFrench
nothingsystematic.ThisledtosomeindividualsinINRAandORSTOMintheearly1980s
whogavememimeographedcopiesoforiginalstudiesthatIcarriedaround.Iamasmall
person,andIstillremembertheweightofallthatFrenchknowledgeinmysuitcase.Very
recently, which may be what you are asking, I met Patrick Caron during the IAASTD
meetinginCostaRicaabout8yearsago,whichledeventuallytoaninvitationtoColloque
Crisy, where I met Estelle Binabe, Patrick Caron, and Benoit Daviron, among others,
andwheretheideaemergedtoinvitemetoCIRADinfallwinter201213.Thathasgiven
meamorecoherentperspectiveonFrenchresearchandtheories,butstillveryeccentric!

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19 6. What was the initial question of the food regime approach: Place of
agriculture in capitalism? International food trade geopolitics? Evolution of
agriculturalpolicies?
20 Notethatthetitleoftheoriginalarticlein1989wasAgricultureandtheStateSystem.
McMichael and I saw agriculture as a neglected aspect of world systems and other
approachestohistoryofglobalcapitalandshiftsininterstatepower.Itwasalso,atleast
inEnglish,neglectedintheoriesofclassincludingRT(againinEnglish).Wesensedthat
agriculturewasveryimportanttospecificconstellationsofpower,accumulationandclass
thatdefinedspecificperiods.Ourfirstaimwastoshiftattentiontoaneglecteddimension.
Over time, we have come in different ways to understand agriculture, food, agrofood
capital, and food and farm related social movements as a lens for viewing the entire
capitalistsystemanditsmanifoldcrises.Twothingswehadalwaysincludedinsomeway
cametotheforeforeachofusin2005.First,thecentralityoffoodbecameimportantnot
onlytothereproductionoftheproletariatbutalsotonewconcernsforgovernmentsand
populationsaboutqualityoffoodandhealtheffectsofbadfood.Second,thecentralityof
agriculturecametotheforethroughanewimportanceoflandforcapitallandhadbeen
left to farmers and governments in the food regime through the 1970s. So it was never
simply about agriculture or food, but always about a new way of looking at world
economy,worldpower,andglobalclassformation,awaytotrackthemovementofpeople
andcapitalfromonecountry(orcountryinformation)toanother.
21 7.Whatarethestructuresandtheactorsofafoodregime?
22 I can define (or describe) a food regime as a rulebased structure constellated out of
manypossiblestructuresduringaprolongedcrisisoftheinitialstructure.Therules,like
anyhegemony,workbestwhentheyareimplicit.Itisasignofregimecrisiswhentherules
become explicit and named e.g., when food aid in the form of governmentto
governmentdisposalofsurplusstocksatnegotiatedpricesandexchangerates,whichwas
a key form of international shipments during the postwar regime, became named as
dumpingtheyalwaysfitthesimpletechnicaldefinitionofsellingabroadatpriceslower
thanthecostofproductionathome,butwhenanyonetriedtopointthatoutbeforethe
1990s,theywereaccusedofassigningmotives,orofdeprivingneedypeople,etc.Myfirst
memoryofanenthusiasticFrenchresponsetothatargumentwastomy1982articleina
special issue of American Journal of SociologycalledMarxistInquiries4 of course, the
editorslikedit,butIreceivedlotsofskepticismfrommanyofmycircles.Themainpoint
aboutnamingand(re)framingkeypracticesoftheregimeisthatitiskeytochallenging
hegemony.Itisasignthattheregimeislosingitsgriponthemindsofactors.
23 Afoodregimealwaysconsistsofaspecificcombinationofemergentclasses,interstate
powerrelations,andleadingsectorsofaccumulation.Classesarerelatedinanhistorical
ratherthanconceptualway.Ofcourse,directexploitationbyarulingclassisanissue,for
workersbycapitalistsandalsoarguablyforpeasantsbylandlordsandstates,asthelatter
weredefinedbymyearlymentorEricWolfin1966.Butsomeclassesarerelatedthrough
theglobalregimee.g.,asSidneyMintzelegantlydemonstrated,enslavedAfricansugar
workersintheAmericaswererelatedtoindustrialworkerswhosecheapcaloriescamefrom
thisnewwagefoodinthe18thandearly19thcenturiesthisconnectionwasunderstood
at the time by those English workers who called themselves wage slaves and who
supportedabolitionofslavery.Similarly,whatiscalledtheindustrialrevolutionlocated
in Northern England, was anticipated in its labour process by the time discipline and
technicaldivisionoflabourinCubansugarplantations.Evenmoreimportant,perhaps,is
thatthetextilefactoriesofEnglanddependedona(sub)tropicalrawmaterialcotton
produced through enslaved labour in the US South and a variety of nonwage forms in
AsiaandAfricatheydisplacedartisansnotonlybyefficienciesbutalsobysubstituting
importedcottonforadomesticwoolandflax.Inalaterregime,whendisplacedfarmers
were drawn into an industrial labour force, only the French idea of agroalimentaire
captured the reality that a growing share of wage labour consisted of emerging agrifood
industries, such as processed foods and meatpacking, and eventually food retail and
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restaurants.Thus,thestructuresofregimesandregimetransitionsshapetheexperiences
of actors in different parts of the world and of nations. This is a strong structural
argument, of course, as the early food regime approach tended to be. As it evolved,
McMichaelandI,andmanyotherswhotookitup,foundwaystomakeagencycentral,for
instance, in focusing on social movements. But it was there from the beginning in the
multiplepossibilitiesforexitingfromeachregimecrisisortransition.
24 PerhapsthemostimportantdifferencebetweenfoodregimesandRTistheemphasison
distinct periods of interstate power. Interstate power was organized first as rival
imperialblocs,laterasasystemofnationalstatesconstitutedpartlythroughthebreakup
ofthoseempiresbeginningwithIndiain1947aseachnewstatetookaseatatthe
UnitedNations.Eventuallyinthenextregimecrisis,allstatesambiguouslyandunstably
gave over economic regulatory power to corporations through various trade and
investment agreements. Crucially, the military remained. As if US officials had read
Arrighis choices of state action for a declining hegemon, they took the military option,
whichofcourse,acceleratesrelativeeconomicdecline.
25 Leadingsectorsofaccumulationarepartlyaboutspecificcrops,buttheregimeshapes
andisshapedbyleadingsectorsinthewholeeconomyduringtheperiod.Forinstance,
wheatinthe19thcenturywasmadepossiblebyanditselfmadeprofitablethevast
expansionofrailwaysandsteamships.Finally,leadingsectorsdonotsimplyreplaceone
another but layer one on the other: wheat hangs over as one writer put it, into
subsequentregimes,butceasestobecentral.Theseleadingagriculturalsectors,moreover,
are linked to the most dynamic sources of accumulation: wheat to railways in the
19thcenturylivestockandfeedgrains(maizeandsoya)tothechemicalindustryinthe
20th century and palm oil, maize, soya, livestock and others to a reconstituted life
sector based on genetic technologies, including seeds, agrichemicals, energy and
pharmaceuticals.
26 In the complex and open historical engagements leading to the creation of a regime,
manyactorsareinvolved.Mostaretryingtosolvetheproblemscreatedforthembythe
crisisoftheoldregimee.g.,Britainsefforttoreinstitutethegoldstandardinthe1920s
when the world wheat market collapsed. Others are experimenting with new solutions
whichmayworkormaynot,maybecomepartofanewfoodregimeornotonethatdid
workinthe1930s(thoughtherewerecertainlyothercontendersinthatturbulentperiod)
werethecommoditysupportprogramsoftheUSNewDeal.AfterWWII,theywereableto
spreadinformsadaptedtoeachevolvingnationalcontextbecauseoftwokeyfactors:first
the exclusion of agriculture from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, so that
nationalfarmsubsidiesbecamepossibleand(becauseoftheimplicitrulesinstitutedby
theUS)necessaryandsecond,theconvergenceofinterestsamongkeyactorsUSstate
wantingtodisposeofsurplusesanditsabilitytousethempoliticallyabroad,USfarmers,
newly independent, postcolonial states wanting cheap food to encourage cheap wages,
Europeanstateswantingtoprotectandsupporttheirownfarmers.Bothfactorsdepended
onUShegemony,whichwasrealhegemony,satisfyingkeyactorsandestablishinganew
commonsenseofwhatisnormal.
27 8. How were the crises in the 1970s and in the 2000s interpreted by the
foodregimetheorists?
28 I cant discuss the many people who have taken up food regime analysis in various
placesandindifferentways.Iamcertainlynotawareofallofthem.However,Ihavent
seenmuchifanydisagreementaboutthecrisisofthe1970s.Thedifferenceiswhethera
newfoodregimehasconsolidated.McMichaelandIbegantodivergeonthisquestionin
2005 when he first claimed that a corporate food regime had consolidated. In the same
volume, I considered the possibility of a corporateenvironmental food regime. In my
view,ofcoursebiased,thefullcomplexityoffoodregimesleadstoanappreciationofthe
fluidityofpossibilitiesclassrestructuring(especiallyunequaldiets,mainlyinquality),
shifts in power, and the possibility that capital could reform itself by adopting selected
innovations or accommodating demands by new social movements of environment,
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health,andconsumers.Todothis,Ireinterpretedfoodregimehistorythroughthelensof
social movements surplus workers who migrated to become settlers created the first
food regime farmers of a new type created in the first regime led the movements that
shapedthesecondfoodregimeandnowsocialmovementsrespondingtounanticipated
problemsofthesecondregimemightleadtoareconstructionofaccumulation,powerand
classes not a just or sustainable one, but perhaps one that could stabilize for a few
decades. Eleven years later, I still dont know. For his part, McMichael focused on the
undeniablecentralityofland,onceagaindirectlyappropriatedbycapitalandintegrated
intoincreasinglydominantfinancialcapital.
29 Somethingscanbesaidaboutcapital.Capitalistsectorsandfirmswithinthemhave
changed with concentration and centralization of capital. On one side, mergers and
acquisitions beginning in the 1980s led to the disconnection of corporations linked
through the chemicalmechanical technologies of the UScentred food regime, and led
some of them to reconfigure into a selfstyled life sector led by pharmaceuticals.
Pharmaceuticalshadbeenagrowingpartoftheintensivelivestockcomplex,totreatthe
diseases of confined animals and to allow for larger production of antibiotic and other
drugs. With the intellectual property rules created by TRIPs in the WTO and the
generalizationofnewUSlawsallowingpatenting,seedswhichhadearlierbeenleftto
governments and farmers became a site of accumulation and political contestation.
The Life Sector is a formidable, dynamic sector of accumulation, based on genetic
technologies which have replaced physics as the most dynamic for capital, and have
reconfigured the disciplines of chemistry and biology, including the applied areas of
agronomy, animal breeding, etc. As genetics links with information technologies and
nanotechnologies,thepossibilitiesintensifyforcapitalaccumulation,andalsointroduce
newcontradictionsbetweenstates,interstatepower,andcapital.
30 Otherthingscanbesaidaboutalternativepracticesofgrowing,cooking,organizing
marketsandlogistics.Theseareprofuse,diverse,anddiffuse.EverywhereIgo,Iamtaken
to see creative experiments combining survival strategies (escape from poverty, from
pesticidepoisoning,etc.)withvisionarywaysoftransformingfoodgettinginnaturaland
socialways,andgovernanceofourcommonaffairs(governanceisawordrevivedforthis
periodofstateorgovernmentcrisis).Thesearealwaysparticulartoplace,fromurban
farming in Toronto, to agroforestry outside Rio de Janeiro, to key farmers in Hebei
province of China. This is why they can be seen as alternative to the standardizing,
homogenizingindustrialwaysoforganizingformerlydiverseagriculturesanddietswhich
evolvedineachplaceinmutualrelationmaize,beansandsquashformacomplexofcrops
whicharegoodforsoilsandforhumanbodies,asarewheat,lentils,olivesandvines,as
arerice,fish,ducksandvegetables.Incontrasttodistanceanddurability,whicharethe
tendencies of industrial food, they reconstruct proximity and seasonality rarely as
alternative but as part of a direction of movement that reverses the movement of
industrial systems. Artisanal methods of food preservation are updated with new
technologiesandcollaborativemethodsoffarmingareupdatedwithecologicalknowledge
andsocialcommitment.IputalternativeinscarequotesbecauseIthinkitleadsaway
from the search for potential convergences into a transformed system. Since they partly
decommodify, and close natural and social cycles that were broken to create profit
opportunities for capital, it is hard to see how they could constellate into a new food
regimeforcapital.Buteachpartcanbeappropriatedandcombinedinsteadwithexisting
industrialtechniques.
31 Itisacontest,adanceofcreativityandappropriation,toseehowdifferentprojectsto
intensify ecologically will play out between capital and agroecological experiments of
every kind. Unlike some commentators, I can see how innovations are appropriated by
capital to reform itself and create a corporateenvironmental food regime. That might
preventthesefromconstellatingwithothersintoanewsystem.Meanwhile,whatsocio
technical transition theorists call the landscape of the regime finance, climate

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change,populationhealth,speciesdeath,andmoresuggestevergreaterinstabilityof
capitalistorganizationasawhole.Thefutureremainsinplay.
32 9.Howdoyouunderstandtheglobalrelevanceofthenotionoffoodregime?
33 Itisastonishingthatpoliticaleconomistshavebeenasblindedaseveryoneelsebythe
apparent marginalization of land and food inherited from the UScentred food regime.
Therearemanydimensionstothis.Oneisquantificationandmeasurement:agriculture
seemedmoreorlesstakencareof,asthenumbersoffarmersfelltotinyproportionsofthe
population,especiallyiffarmwasdefinedbysizeoflandorofrevenue,evenbydegreeof
specialization. For Marxists and others have often understood agriculture and food as
overcominglimitsofnaturetomimicindustry.Theyacceptthedominantviewofcapital
andtreatcriticsofindustrialagricultureasunrealisticinlightofpopulationgrowth,itself
causedbythisimmenseincreaseinproductionofcalories.
34 Food itself is statistically defined as quantities of calories. That made sense in the
Annales School, since long sequences of grain prices were unique indicators of whatever
onewanttostudy,andsinceeveryoneknewthatgrainintrade(andthereforesubjectto
prices)wasonlypartofwhatpeopleate,notonlyofgrainbutofallsortsofplantsand
animals,cultivatedandgathered,formostofhistory.Butoncemonoculturalgrainfields
displaceeverythingelse,alltheotherplantsandanimals,cultivatedandwild,arepushed
aside.Thisimpoverishestheearthandhumanbodies.Suddenlytherearecrisesofplant
andanimaldiseases,andcrisesofnutritionduetodeficiencyofmicronutrients.Inmy
view, the specific qualities of food inherited from a succession of regimes are now in
questiondiscoursesofemptycaloriesandnutritiontransition(frommixed,freshdiets
tojunkfoodsreflectadifferentaspectofrealityfromdiscoursesoffeeding9billion.
35 Fruits and vegetables, the main sources of micronutrients, are abundant in mixed
farmingsystemsandareavailableinsomeseasonstobegatheredinhedges,forests,and
waters. But the variety of fruits, vegetables, and leafy greens disappear from diets, for
instancewhentheGreenRevolutionpushedeverythingbutriceoutoffieldsandextended
fields into forests and wetlands. When more people, whether on specialized farms or
displacedfromfarms,hadtobuyfood,theyoftencouldaffordonlyrice.Vegetableswhich
hadformerlybeenabundantandmoreorlessfreelyavailable,becameexpensive.Sodid
lentils relative to rice, which became more abundant and showed higher yield per
hectaresinceitistheonlythinggrown.Hungrybodiesneedfirsttobuycalories,andthe
foodregimedidindeedsolvetheproblemoftoofewcalories.Butitcreatedanewproblem
ofdietssosimplifiedforthepoorthattheycauseddeficiencydiseases.Sincefoodisatthe
bottomofthesupposedhierarchyofneeds,andfortunatelyhasbeensolvedinaggregate
duetoproductiveagriculture,themainquestionuntilveryrecently,wasdistribution
presumablyalsoofgrains.Shivacalleditmonocultureofthemind5.
36 The food regime of the 1950s and 60s create chronic surpluses of grain, unevenly
distributed,whichcausedchronicpricesuppressionuntil1973.Grainwascheapbecause
itwassubsidizedintheUSandsuppliesweremanagedbygovernmentsthatcouldafford
it,andsentatreducedratestogovernmentsthatwantedtoreceiveitforvariousreasons,
nomattertheeffectondomesticfarmersoronculturaldiets.Afterdecadesofworldwars
and a economic crisis in between, people and governments wanted enough grain and
animal products to be healthy. They failed to consider what might happen after several
decadeswhentheappleormangotreeineveryonesgardenmightnolongerbetherethe
gardenmightnolongerbethere.TherewerebreadlinesintheGreatDepressionintheUS
because bread was scarce apples werent and no on stood in line for them. During the
postwarregime,thehorticulturalareassurroundingcitiesintheUSandothercountries
were destroyed by suburban expansion from one side and monocultural grain and
livestock operations from the other. Domestic life changed as women entered the work
forceandretail(supermarkets)andservices(restaurants)grewtofillthedomesticcooking
gapwithindustriallyproducedediblecommodities.
37 Asforsomanythings,becarefulwhatyouwishfor.Therewaslotsofgrain,somuch
that subsidies later directed it to solve energy shortages. Then there was a shortage,
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especially as class divisions led grain to be grown to feed cars and airplanes as well as
animalsfortherelativelyprivilegedratherthandirectconsumptionforthepoor.Thepoor
cannot afford much else. As unemployment grows, they cannot afford grain. Finally,
prices rise, and stocks shrink, as finance packages traded grains and soya with oil and
mineralsinsuchcreativeinvestmentinstrumentsasCommodityIndexFunds.
38 Theassumptionsthatfoodisgrainandthatenoughgraincanbeproduced,lingerslong
pasttheregime.Investmentinland,whichtheregimehadlefttofarmersalongwithrisks
ofweather,inthecrisiscametobeinterestingtofinancialcapitalandtotherichinan
increasinglyunequalandunstableworld.Healthproblemsofindustrialfoodsofferprofit
opportunities to agrifood corporations, which can offer functional foods and vitamin
supplementsalongwithmoreoftheediblecommoditiesthatleadtodietarydeficiencies.
Enclosureofthelastremainingpeasantriesaccompaniesrealestateboomsinglobalcities,
whichdriveuphousingcostsanddriveoutthepoorwhocontinuetoarrivefromnearand
far.
39 I see no stable constellation of power and accumulation, but an increasingly chaotic
economy dominated by financial speculation, and politics dominated by disintegrating
and recomposing classes, mostly of people on the move, and often, especially in
agriculture,ofnoncitizenworkerswithfewornorights,sounstable.Alsowhateverstable
relationsaresustained,forinstance,bycircularmigrationandremittancesbetweenglobal
citiesandvillagesacrosstheworld,areextremelydifficulttostabilizeinanyplaceorany
sector.
40 This seems to go past food regimes! But I could expand how regime concepts lead to
thisinterpretationofunfoldingcrisis,perhapsinabook!
41 10Howdoyouidentifyandanalyzeafoodregimecrisis?Whatarethemain
forces for food regime transformation? Is the initial question of the food
regimeapproachstillrelevant?Isfoodstillrelevantinrelationforexample
tothebioeconomyproject?
42 Eachregimeemergeswithcontradictions,whicharenotapparentorimportantatthe
outset, but which over the course of the regime make it vulnerable. One sign of crisis is
thatactionsofkeyactorscannolongerrelyonpredictableoutcomesoftheiractions.Note
thatpredictabilitydoesnotmeaneveryonelikesit,justthateveryoneacceptsitasnormal.
Duringtheregime,actorsemerge,suchascommodityspecificlobbies(aswellasinherited
farm organizations not organized by crop) and Ministries of Agriculture which create
policies that over the course of the regime define what is normal and what groups are
importanttothepolicies.Theselockininterestsevenwhentheynolongerserve,sincea
changeofinstitutionsalwayshurtssomeindividualsandideas.
43 Asecondsignofcrisisisthatkeyinstitutionsoftheregimearechallengedideologically,
oftenbynamingwhatwasimplicitandreframingitinanewandcriticalway.Itwashard
toseetheroleofthegoldstandarduntilitstoppedworkingfororganized,vocalactors,
such as US farm movements. It was hard to reframe aid (sounds good) as dumping
(sounds bad) as long as farmers in key countries, states in donating and receiving
countries,workersgettingusedtocheapfood,etc.likedthewaythingsworked.Itstopped
workingforallthosegroupsbythe1980s,butinstitutionsbuiltupduringtheregimeare
often lockedin farm lobbies, state agencies and their officials which are organized
aroundfarmprograms,otherstateswhichbenefitfromcheaporfreefoodtodistributeto
keypopulations,charitieswhosestaffworkintheseprograms,etc.
44 Forces for transformation come from outside and inside the regime. This has always
been so. The main actors locking in the present regime were created during an earlier
regime or in response to its crisis. They usually try to get it to work again. Others
introducenewpractices,relations,andideastosolvenewproblemscreatedbytheregime.
Thesecomeincreasinglytobeunderstoodasaimingtowardssomethingverydifferent,a
transformationtoagroecology,forinstance.Butnewpractices,ideas,andrelationscould
instead be part of a regime reform, leading perhaps to what I have called a corporate
environmentalfoodregime.Large,chemicalintensive,indebtedconventionalfarmersin
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the US, for instance, are beginning to reduce input costs with practices such as cover
cropping.Thiscouldleadinthedirectionofclosedloopfarming,oritcouldsimplybea
temporary method of survival. Agrifood corporations, especially since 2008, seem to be
shifting from resisting sustainability to a concerted effort to define it on their terms.
Selling chemicals is less important if the chemicals can be introduced into proprietary
seedsandtheycansellpackagesofinputswithadvisoryservices,insurance,andsoon.
All of these could reduce nitrogen and other pollution from industrial farms. Therefore,
contrarytosomeproclamationsbyactivistsandanalysts,includingMcMichael,Iamnot
convincedthatcapitalcannotrenewaccumulationwitharegimethatdoeslessecological
damage.
45 Therefore, yes, I think a bioeconomy is possible, though there are many, many
problems, such as massive unemployment, unequal consumption of quality and junk
foodsamongincreasinglyunequalsocialclasses,andchronichealthproblems,aswellas
littleunderstooddisruptionsofclimatechangeandspeciesdeath,andmoreimmediately
ofcascadingfinancialcrises.Thebioeconomyhastoincludeapoliticalprojectofsome
kind.Isuniversalhealthcareacontinuingbasisforgovernmentlegitimacy,orcanstates
can get away with not having one, or letting existing ones decay? If it is crucial for
legitimacy,aredietrelatedchronicillnessesofagingpopulationsfiscallyaffordable?How
thisinheriteddilemmaissolvedwilldeterminewhetherhealthproblemsofindividuals
canbeturnedintoevergreatersourcesofprofitformanufacturersofgeneticallytargeted
foods,makersofindividualelectronichealthmonitors,andprivateinsurancecompanies.
Orwhethergovernmentssavesocial/publichealthcaresystemsbyalteringdietsandeven
using measures such as taxation to change the content of edible commodities. Like
innovationsinagronomyandmarketing,changesinhealthpracticesandideasarepartof
adanceofcreativityandappropriation.
46 Yetifthisdancedoesnotresolveintheconsolidationofacorporateenvironmentalfood
regime,thechallengeishowtoobserveandinterpretepochalchanges.Forinstance,itis
possible that expectations of states by their citizens, colliding with uncontrollable
movementsofpeopledisplacedbynewenclosuresandresourcewars,areaflashpointin
thedissolutionnotonlyoftheEuropeanUnionbutalsoofthewholesystemofnational
statescreatedbytheTreatyofWestphalia250yearsago.Foodandhealthandecosystem
damageandemploymentmaybeotherflashpointshunger,disease,wars.Theseare
increasing quickly and unpredictably and not respecting border they are, beyond the
controlofcustomsorimmigrationofficials.
47 Ontheotherside,theoneIspendmostofmytimenowobserving,thereisreasonto
hopeforapositiveresolutionofthecrisisatransformationnottoanewfoodregime,a
positive (if turbulent and prolonged) exit from capitalism as we know it. However, this
can no longer be the mission of a proletariat. Instead ideas from ecology such as
emergence and transformability are more adequate. Just as the serfs did not destroy
feudalismandusherinanewmodeofproduction,soworkersasaclasscannotdestroy
capitalism or even transform it. Human beings are transforming ourselves through new
practices and new technologies. This involves combining new relations and ways of
knowing with recovery of old relations and ways of knowing. The latter have been
destroyed,oralmost,bycapital,statemaking,andotherinstitutions.Moderninstitutions
have found ever more effective ways to turn a diverse earth system into territorial
jurisdictionsofruleandmonoculturallandscapesandsocieties.Inmyview,anywayof
looking at the possibilities for emergence of something new that does not focus on food
and land is missing the keys to human society. Foodgetting is the way that humans
organize our life in our earthly habitat and all its distinct and interconnected parts
everythingelsebuildsonit,andtheoriesthatdenyorignorethis,onlyconfuse.
48 11.Whatdoyouthinktodayoftheperiodizationofhistoryintermsofthree
foodregimes?
49 PeriodsarethewayImakesenseoftheflowofhistory.Ifhistoryismorelikeariverthan
a canal, then periods are like whirlpools, slowing the stream and patterning the flow.
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Surely,noperiodexistswithfixedtemporalboundariesbeginningandendingdates
comparabletothefixedbordersofnationalstates.Instead,Ihaveadeeplyhistorical(and
materialist)viewofemergenceanddissolutionofregimes.Eachelementofaregimehas
itsownhistory,reachingbackintothepast,andeachelementconstellatedintotheregime
unfoldsdistinctlyineachplace.Thinkofcurrentsintheriver,flowingintothewhirlpool,
changing,andleavingitontheotherside.
50 For instance, consider just one element of the UScentred food regime, increase in
consumption of meat. The desire for meat may well extend into the class based
distribution systems of early civilizations, or perhaps farther back into the now
fashionableideaofthePaleolithicdiet(whichnodoubtvariedfrommeatcentricArcticto
plantbasedtropicalforestecosystems).Meatcertainlybecameidentifiedwithclassdiets
whenhuntingwasrestrictedbythosewhoenclosedforestsinEurope.IntheUKcentred
regime, meat imports to England were second to wheat, and improved devastated
workingclassdietsaspeopleleftenclosedvillages.Bycontrast,meatconsumptioninthe
UScentred regime was led by (over)supply sponsored by subsidies. Oversupply of meat
resulted from oversupply of grains by government subsidies designed to keep maize
farmers going. The cheap grain supported the rise of a feedgrains industry. (Subsidies
havetheirownhistoriesbeforebecomingcentraltoaregime).Thefeedgrainindustryin
turnrequiredaproteincroptocomplementthemaizesoya(anAsiancrop)hadalready
been introduced (also with subsidies) to provide a stable oil to the margarine industry,
and expanded when feed industries demanded more soya. Maize and soya eventually
became a simplified rotation dominating agricultural landscapes, all to feed livestock.
Thesefeedstuffsmadepossibletheconfinementofmassivenumbersofanimals,whichin
turnincreasedtheoutletsforsubsidizedfeeds,andthefeedlivestockindustriesbecame
mutually reinforcing spiral of livestock which changed diets and ideas about food.
Moreover,byproductsofthemaizesoylivestockcomplexwereHighFructoseCornSyrup,
and maize and soya oils. These in turn permitted the production of processed foods in
advance of demand. The new industrial categories of sweeteners and fats then became
substitutablerawmaterialsforagrowingproportionofwhatweglossasfood.Allthese
ingredientscouldbereplacedlaterby,say,palmoiloraspartame.
51 To follow this specific thread is to reveal two things about periodization. First,
everythinghasanoriginbeforeitisconstellatedintotheregime.Second,everyelementof
the regime continues to unfold during and after the crisis of the regime. This way of
thinking is what McMichael has beautifully described as the historical method of
incorporatedcomparison,awayofunderstandingtheunfoldingofpartsandwholesin
mutualrelation,withoutreducingparttowholeorwholetopart. 6
52 WhatIofferinthisindirectanswertoyourquestionisamethodofinquiryratherthana
conclusion to the inquiry. Since the owl of Minerva flies at dusk, we can be reasonably
confident about the outlines of past food regimes though of course, there is much to
alter and rethink from various national, sectorial, class, and other angles. As to the
emergenceofanewregime,wearebetteroffthinkingofquestions,readyalwaystorevise
as situations unfold, ready always to listen and consider multiple possibilities in a
situationinflux.
53 12. How do you characterize the current situation in the agrofood sector?
What about the role of international organizations, states, enterprises and
socialmovements?WhatarethedifferencesbetweenyouranalysisandPhilip
McMichaelsone?
54 Here is how McMichael and I agree: Land and food have returned to the centre of
accumulationandpoliticsinawaynotpossibleduringtheUScentredfoodregime,butin
a way reminiscent of the Britaincentred food regime. Financial capitalist accumulation
hasbroughtlandandfoodbackintothecentre,butinstitutionsoftheregimecannotcope.
55 I note more changes. Genetic technologies linked with nano and information
technologiesarereshapingeverythingabouthumanrelationstonatureandhowtheyare
used determines what new relations we have to each other and to ruling institutions.
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Supermarkets are deeply implicated in every consumer commodity complex, and at the
same time with finance and real estate. The socalled Life Sector, which emerged from
mergersandacquisitionsbeginninginthe1980sandcontinuingasIwrite,includesnew
commodities,especiallyseeds,subordinatingmanyformerlyseparateaspectsofagrifood
economy and indeed of life. Does this mean a profitable spiral of new health problems
solvedbynewdrugs,devices,ortechniques?Aprofitablespiraloflandenclosurescreating
evermoreconsumersofdurablefoodsoutofpeopleonceparticipatinginlocalcommerce
andcuisines?
56 McMichaelwouldprobablyfocushisreplyonlandgrabs,climatechange,andbiofuels,
andIwouldagreewithhimitisamatterofselectionforbriefanswers.Thepointisthat
foodandagriculture/landarenowcentraltomanycontradictionsofcapitalandtherefore
probably (not automatically) to their solution. Our views diverge in relation to social
movements.
57 For McMichael, the farmerled food sovereignty movement is the only way forward.
However, as Bernstein has argued, the epochal confrontation between a corporate food
regimeandafoodsovereigntymovementsuspiciouslysubstitutesthelostideaofcapital
versusworkingclass.IagreewithBernsteinthatitcondensesthecomplexrestructurings
of capital, sectors, classes and places into the manifest, but too simple, fact that
corporations presently have huge power since it was given by states, and depends on
stable relations of many kinds, this corporate power may not endure. International
organizations are trying to adapt and to balance corporate capture with civil society
participation.TheCivilSocietyMechanismoftheCommitteeonFoodSecurityisperhaps
the most developed of these experiments in changing interstate governance, as Nora
McKeonshowsinGlobalFoodGovernance7.
58 For all the fascinating and inspiring resonance of the idea of food sovereignty, it is
difficulttoseethisaspirationalideaandnetworkedmovementmatchingthecoherenceof
theoldsocialistmovement(withallitssplitsandcomplicationsinthe19thcentury).Nor
shouldit,nordoesMcMichaelclaimthatitdoes.Buttheoppositionhemakessuggestsa
solidity of this relatively new movement which makes it different networked, and
overlapping with others, such as indigenous networks, and growing agronomic
movements such as permaculture. The term sovereignty is usually but not always
distinguished from sovereign states, and advocates rightly insist that it is an evolving
idea,withpracticesrootedinplacesandsharedacrossplaces.Itisearlytojudgehowall
thiswillunfold.
59 Changes in food and farming are everywhere are growing in number, diversity, and
waysofconnectingwithwidersocialandtechnicalchanges.Theyaremoreemergentthat
confrontational,eventhoughmomentsofconfrontationagainstspecificpractices,suchas
GMOs, are part of it. And land appropriation and despoliation by mining as well as
agricultureinvolvesbothintenseresistanceandviolentrepression.Howwillchangesin
food and farming and forests and waters connect or not with networks of
communication,ofdistributedenergy,of3Dprintingorthemakersrevolution?Food
systeminnovatorsconnectwiththeseatvariouspoints,whichneedtobetheorized.From
the other side, the geeks who love computers and open source rarely think even about
whattheyeat,muchlesshowfoodisgrown,howlandisorganized,abusedorrespected.
Thisisabridgeforresearchersandactiviststobuildandtocross.Itisaconnectionready
tomake.Tointerpretexperimentsinnewwaystolivemaychangethewaywethink.
60 I think a hopeful outcome is possible, but it will not come easily. The duration of
transitionaswellasitssuccesswoulddependonhowwiselypeopledrawonresourcesfor
collaborationindailylife.Theactorsofthistransitionarereconfiguringideas,practices
and relationships, for example in collaborative, sharing networks and solidarity
economies.Theseinclude,asvanderPloegandhiscolleaguesputit,nestedmarkets8 .It
meanschangingknowledge,reshapingindigenous,technical,foodgetting,psychological,
and scientific (including especially ecological) knowledge into pathways that are
participatory,respectfulandcollaborative.
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61 13. Some critics point out that the initial promoters of the food regime
approach were all located in neoEuropean countries (USA, Canada,
Australia, and New Zealand)? Did this situation create a bias or a twist
comparetoEuropeanorThirdWordperspectives?
62 Itisinterestingtoreflectonthispossibleoriginofthefoodregimeperspective.Rather
thanbias,Iseeitasoneperspectiveamongmanythatareneeded.Magnanhasalteredmy
understandingoffoodregimesbylookingattheshiftfromaBritaincentrictoaUScentric
regime from a Canadian perspective. When Wheat was King: The Rise and Fall of the
CanadaUK Grain Trade, published this year9, shows the subtlety of economic and
politicalmechanismsthroughwhichasecondtierexporter(whichhadbeenmuchlarger
in the earlier regime) could function in relation to the hegemonic power and to unfair
rules. The Canadian role in price formation, standards, and more played a key role in
reproducing the regime. At the same time Canada was quietly allowed exemption from
someconstrainingregimerules,forinstance,toexporttoChinaandtheSovietUnion.
63 Perhaps neoEuropes are the source of this idea because of our recent origins in the
regimes of sugar and wheat, and our immediate and lingering crises centred on those
sectors.Thesesettlercoloniesbecameindependentsothattheycouldborrowmoneyto
financerailways,whichatonceexpandednationalterritoryandsponsoredaccumulation
of capital. The settlercolonial project was central to the Britaincentred regime, which
linked all these countries and others both Europe and what Giovani Arrighi called
coloniesofrulewhichlaterbecametheThirdWorldandevenlaterTheSouth.Itcreated
huge classes of specialized family farmers who suffered most severely during the regime
crisiswhenexportmarketscollapsed.Thosefarmersorganizedthemselveswell,andtheir
political strength was decisive in defining the shape of the new regime that finally
emergedafterdepressionandworldwar.
64 However, hegemony differentiates neoEuropes or European settler colonies.
American farmers were most decisive since the US got to define the rules, especially
monetaryandtraderules(e.g.,excludingagriculturefromGATT),whichgavetheUSan
export advantage it had not had in the old regime. Canada, Australia, New Zealand,
Argentina, Brazil,) took advantage of the regime crisis to form the Cairns Group, which
pushedagainsttheUStoremovalthesubsidiesthatonlythehegemoncouldafford(even
incrisis,aslongasthedollarremainsdefactoworldcurrency).Cairnscountrieshadnever
subsidizedinthesamewaydomesticallyandcertainlynotinexports.
65 AsfortheThirdWorld,GerardoOteroisatleastoneresearcherwhousesfoodregime
analysistounderstandLatinAmerica10.JohnWilkinsonandRenatoMaluf11inBrazildo,
too,andDavironforAfricantrade.Nodoubtthereareothersthereandinotherplaces.But
thequestionshouldbeansweredconceptually,startingwithlanguage:thecategoryThird
World(asoneofthreeworlds)roseandfellintandemwiththefoodregime,becauseboth
dependedonthesameconditionsofdecolonizationlikewise,thenewtermSouth(North
South) arose in the 1970s, partly I think through UNCTAD, certainly in the Brandt
CommissionReportNorthSouthintheearly1980s,allduringDtenteintheColdWar,
whichincludedgraintradedealsthattriggeredregimecrisis.
66 OneofmymoreaccessibleandwidelyreadarticlesappearedinThirdWorldQuarterly
in the 1990s. In that article, I took the perspective of the Third World as a whole to
describethethreemaincomplexesofthefoodregime.Thisdoesnotsaywhathappenedin
anycountry,butoffersquestionstoaskabouthowthehistoryofanycountryfits,alters,or
divergesfromthegeneraltendencies.Thewheatcomplexledtoashiftinstaplefoodfor
many countries, and import dependence for most. The livestock complex led to
displacement of export markets for sugar and tropical oils, which many states had
inheritedfromcolonialspecialization.Thedurablefoodscomplexledtoadrasticchange
indietstowardindustrialcuisine,itselfrelatedtointensificationofproletarianization,
or at least increased dependence of farmers and rural populations on food markets
integratedintoglobalsupplychains.

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67 Iamproudofseeingearlyonthatsovereigndebtandstructuraladjustment,thekeyto
thegeneralcrisis,wereforcingashifttoexportsofwhatwerecallednontraditional(in
effect, noncolonial) crops such as fresh fruits and vegetables and fish. I think this was
helpfulinintegratingdeeptendenciesofregimeandofcrisis.Itallowedforeachcountry
to be understood in its specific historical trajectory within the regime and the crisis. A
completefoodregimeanalysis,ifsuchathingwerepossible,wouldincludebothgeneral
tendencies (formation and reformation of regions and sectors) and how the history,
geography, and culture of each place is shaped by and shapes the regime and its
contradictions.Forinstance,supermarketorganizedsupplychainsoffreshproducebegan
early in Kenya, but all countries are affected by the existence of these growing supply
chains,evenperhapsespeciallythosethataremarginalizedbythem.
68 14.Theanswersyougavetoourmoreorlessnavequestions,allowsusto
understand better the origin of food regimes concept and in your view how
Landandfoodhavereturnedtothecentre of accumulation and politics. We
thanksyouverymuch.
69 This has been a fascinating invitation to reflect on issues from a new perspective. I
wouldbehappytoengageinfurtherdiscussionwithreaders,includingthosewishingto
toleratemycreativeuseofFrenchlanguage.

Notes
1ArrighiG.(1994),TheLongTwentiethCentury:Money,Power,andtheOriginsofOurTimes,in
VersoandArrighi,G.andSilver,B.(1999),ChaosandGovernanceintheModernWorldSystem,
Minnesota.
2 J.P. Bertrand, C. Laurent, V. Leclercq (1983), Le monde du soja, La Dcouverte/Maspro,
coll."repres",127p.
3 Winson A. (1994), The Intimate Commodity: food and the development of the agroindustrial
complexinCanada,UniversityofTorontoPress.
4"ThePoliticalEconomyofFood:TheRiseandFallofthePostwarInternationalFoodOrder",inM.
BurawoyandT.Skocpol(eds).,MarxistInquiries:StudiesofLabour,ClassandStates,supplement
tovol.88,AmericanJournalofSociology,1982,p.S24886
5 Shiva V (1993), Monocultures of the mind: Perspectives on biodiversity and biotechnology,
PalgraveMacmillan.
6 McMichael, P. (1990), "Incorporating Comparison within a WorldHistorical Perspective: An
AlternativeComparativeMethod",AmericanSociologicalReview55(3),p.385397
7 McKeon N (2015), "Global food governance in an era of crisis: Lessons from the United Nations
CommitteeonWorldFoodSecurity",CanadianFoodStudies/LaRevuecanadiennedestudessur
l'alimentation2(2),328334.
8JanDouwevanderPloeg,YeJingzhong,andSergioSchneider.2012.Ruraldevelopmentthrough
the construction of new, nested, markets: comparative perspectives from China, Brazil and the
EuropeanUnion.TheJournalOfPeasantStudies39(1),
9 Magnan A., 2016. When Wheat was King: The Rise and Fall of the CanadaUK Grain Trade.
UniversityofBritishColumbiaPress,216p.
10 Otero G, 2012. The neoliberal food regime in Latin America: state, agribusiness transnational
corporations and biotechnology. Canadian Journal of Development Studies/Revue canadienne
d'tudesdudveloppement33(3),282294.
11 Maluf RS, 1998. Economic development and the food question in Latin America. Food Policy
23(2),155172WilkinsonJ&SHerrera,2010.BiofuelsinBrazil:debatesandimpacts.TheJournalof
PeasantStudies37(4),749768..

Pourcitercetarticle
Rfrencelectronique
HarrietFriedmann,BenotDavironetGillesAllaire,Politicaleconomistshavebeenblindedby
theapparentmarginalizationoflandandfood,Revuedelargulation[Enligne],|2016,misen

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HarrietFriedmann
BenotDaviron
GillesAllaire
Directeurderecherche,INRA,USODR,allaire@toulouse.inra.fr

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