The Neoliberal Regime in the Agri-Food Sector

For the last three decades, the Neoliberal regime, emphasising economic growth through deregulation, free trade and the role of the private sector, has shaped production and consumption processes in agriculture and food. More recently social instability and protest, economic recessions, political uncertainties and ecological degradation and risks have prompted claims that we now confront a systemic crisis. The regulatory mechanisms and patterns of material flow that constitute the contemporary agri-food regime are implicated in contemporary global insecurities. The capacity to maintain the legitimacy and material coherence of the neoliberal regime is in doubt.

This book presents an informed, constructive dialogue around the thesis that we have reached some institutional and material limits. Is the Neoliberal regime exhausted? Are we at the outset of a new regime? And if so, what are the opportunities and risks linked to the construction of a new regime? The book advances a critical evaluation of the evidence supporting claims of rupture of, or incursions into, the Neoliberal model. It also analyzes pragmatic responses to these critiques including policy initiatives, social mobilization and experimentation at various scales and points of entry.

At the level of theory, the book surveys and synthesizes a range of sociological frames designed to grapple with the concepts of systemic crisis and transitions. Empirical contributions include longitudinal analysis of secondary data and case studies of food and agriculture from around the globe. These highlight particular aspects of crisis and responses, including the potential for continued resilience, a neo-productivist return, as well as the emergence of new models and the scaling up of existing alternative models.