Introduction
Over the past 20 some years since the fall of the Soviet Union, capitalism has become the dominant force driving the world economy. Neo-liberal reforms are seen by some as the sustainable solution to poverty and vilified by others as the means of oppression to extract the resources of the global South. While on one hand, millions have come out of poverty as China and Vietnam have liberalized their economies, the agricultural production of former Soviet bloc countries are still recovering from the economic shocks of a liberalized and open economy. Despite extensive reforms Africa’s agricultural productivity per capita has remained constant and poverty has increased. Many Latin American governments have spoken powerfully against neo-liberalism swinging either to the radical left of state run industries (as in Venezuela) or a more moderate left that use export led economic growth to fund social programs for poverty reduction (as in Brazil).
The rise of capitalism has had profound impacts on the global food system with a mixture of benefits and problems for the world’s poor. Capitalism has led to tremendous concentration in parts of the food system by multi-national corporations, especially the seed and retail sectors. While the rise of supermarkets may provide for some consumer benefits through increased access to inexpensive foods in urban areas it has also contributed to the global obesity epidemic by encouraging the consumption of processed foods with high sugar content. As agricultural value chains become vertically integrated, the farmers who can participate may benefit, but the poorest farmers may be excluded, resulting in increased inequality on both the global and local scales.
In this collection of essays we use what C. Wright Mills [1] refers to as the “sociological imagination” to reflect on how smallholder farmers and the rural poor (collectively known as peasants) are impacted by and respond to the rise of capitalism. Mills tells us that
the individual can understand his own experience and gauge his own fate only by locating himself within his period, that he can know his own chances in life only by becoming aware of those of all individuals in his circumstances. In many ways it is a terrible lesson; in many ways a magnificent one. (p. 5)
It is crucial, therefore, that we analyze and publicly discuss the social structural issues surrounding peasantry, poverty alleviation, biofuels, agri-tourism, farmer suicides, and agro-ecology in order to better understand the just distribution of resources in our current global food system. Through a sociological analysis of these problems, we aim to constructively explore strategies that may enable the peasantry to have an audible voice in the global food system. We assess these public issues by utilizing the classical social theories of Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Émile Durkheim. We present this through a website with an introduction written as a team and essays written by each individual group member. Photographs and graphics supplement the project throughout.
The rise of capitalism has had profound impacts on the global food system with a mixture of benefits and problems for the world’s poor. Capitalism has led to tremendous concentration in parts of the food system by multi-national corporations, especially the seed and retail sectors. While the rise of supermarkets may provide for some consumer benefits through increased access to inexpensive foods in urban areas it has also contributed to the global obesity epidemic by encouraging the consumption of processed foods with high sugar content. As agricultural value chains become vertically integrated, the farmers who can participate may benefit, but the poorest farmers may be excluded, resulting in increased inequality on both the global and local scales.
In this collection of essays we use what C. Wright Mills [1] refers to as the “sociological imagination” to reflect on how smallholder farmers and the rural poor (collectively known as peasants) are impacted by and respond to the rise of capitalism. Mills tells us that
the individual can understand his own experience and gauge his own fate only by locating himself within his period, that he can know his own chances in life only by becoming aware of those of all individuals in his circumstances. In many ways it is a terrible lesson; in many ways a magnificent one. (p. 5)
It is crucial, therefore, that we analyze and publicly discuss the social structural issues surrounding peasantry, poverty alleviation, biofuels, agri-tourism, farmer suicides, and agro-ecology in order to better understand the just distribution of resources in our current global food system. Through a sociological analysis of these problems, we aim to constructively explore strategies that may enable the peasantry to have an audible voice in the global food system. We assess these public issues by utilizing the classical social theories of Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Émile Durkheim. We present this through a website with an introduction written as a team and essays written by each individual group member. Photographs and graphics supplement the project throughout.
Reference
1. Mills, C. Wright. (1959). The Sociological Imagination. New York: Oxford University Press.