La globalización del sector agrícola y alimentario y las teorías del estado

The paper investigates the theoretical dislocation between the domestic oriented character of theories of the State and the transnational character of theories of socio-economic development. Employing the case of the food and agricultural sector, it is argued that the literature in this area has emphasized the transnational dimension of capital accumulation and the process of by-passing State authority at the national level. This situaion mandates a re-evaluation of State theories in regard to the international dimension of current processes of capital accumulation. Furthermore, the present analysis suggests patterns of "contradictory convergence" in which expansion at the transnational level of State action is demanded by transnational corporations and subordinate classes alike. This demand, however, is contradictory, as it finds its limits in the transnational bourgeoisie's desire to avoid State action. Politically, as a result of this situation the locus of emancipatory social action should be increasingly transferred to the international arena

Manufacturing Plants: Notes on the Culture of Nature and the Nature of Culture

The terms "culture" and "nature" have ambiguous meanings in most Western societies. Culture is used to denote the totality of socially transmitted customs and behavior patterns of a given society as well as to denote the cultivation of plants or microorganisms in a petri dish. Nature is used to refer to those aspects of the world that are beyond us as well as to that which is taken for granted as "natural" or normal. This ambiguity is particularly well reflected in current debates about plant biotechnology and germplasm conservation.The thesis of this paper is that the nature/culture distinction has outlived its usefulness. The new biotechnologies illustrate in the most dramatic of ways how we make and remake nature, while the issues surrounding germplasm conservation show that we have been collectively engaged in making nature for thousands of years. Thus, nature is not natural; it is a product of culture. Put another way, nature is always cultured. Similarly, culture is a product of nature; it is natural in its origins if not in its content

Estados, Municipalidades, e Inmigrantes Latinoamericanos en la Internacionalización del Circuito de la Carne

Based on a case study of a meatpacking plant in Lexington, Nebraska, this paper explores some of the "micro-linkages" in the internationalization of the agro-food sector which appear al the local level. Specifically it looks at the process whereby local states, municipalities, and different social classes, find themselves involved in processes which further the globalization of the livestock sector. Secondly, the paper explores the growing tendency, within meatpacking, to mobilize new immigrant labor pools (principally from Mexico and Central America). The final part of the paper considers some of the specific costs that communities like Lexington and latino workers must pay as they participale in the growth of these internationalized industries

Nuevos agentes en el mercado de la tierra agrícola en Venezuela

The agrarian reform in Venezuela has not reached its original objectives regarding land distribution. The land market is the entity which regulates both the use of land as well as the structure of property. This market has developed very quickly since 1958. Moreover, this land market is increasingly dominated by corporations, individual businesspeople, and professionals, while small producers are losing importance. International financial organizations (such as the Inter-America Development Fund and the World Bank) show a growing interest in the land market. However, their objectives (creation of property records and establishment of clearer procedures, etc.) cannot be easily accomplished due to the complexity of local power relations. These relations substantially change the content of the measures established at the national level when applied in practice

Global Post-Fordism and Concepts of the State

Following a review of the literature on the State and some of the basic features of global post-Fordism, it is maintained that global post-Fordism can be synthesized through a set of four dialectical relationships: deregulation/re-regulation, fragmentation/coordination, mobility/embeddedness and empowerment/disempowerment. Moreover, it is argued that: 1) the State in global post-Fordism cannot be thought of exclusively in national terms; 2) its re-conceptualization must entail a transnational dimension; 3) the State cannot be conceptualized exclusively in terms of formal public appearances, agents and agencies; and 4) non-public apparatuses, agents and agencies must be included in the analysis

The Firm and the State in the Globalization Process

Globalization is a process which results from dynamic economic, political, cultural or religious forces. These forces are simultaneously shaping and reshaping the international division of labor, favoring or opposing capital accumulation, and pushing toward an increasing homogeneity of human behavior and consumption or attempts to resist this movement. However, the author maintains that the driving force is economic. More specifically, the critical agent in globalization is shown to be Transnational Finance Capital (TFC) (involving both Transnational Corporations and Transnational Banks). First, the characteristics and increasing importance of TFC is examined, which is necessary in delineating a framework for analyzing the relationship between TFC and the State, particularly as it is manifesting in the agri-food sector. This framework highlights the fact that dialectical relationships between TFC and nation-States vary in different socio-economic contexts. A qualitative typology is proposed in an attempt to describe the nature of these relationships at any particular moment. The article ends with an application of this typology to different relationship patterns established between TFC and the Portuguese nation-State

Globalisation, Regionalisation and Quality:The Socio-economic Reconstitution of Food in the San Francisco Valley, Brazil

This paper contributes to debates concerning the globalisation and regionalisation of agriculture and food with reference to the dynamic development of the San Francisco Valley in Brazil. The quantitative regulation of production of fruits is matched by international requirements for food quality. The regulation of food quality, operating in and through food networks, needs to be seen in the context of trade-offs with aspects of labour and environmental quality issues. By integrating these with the analysis, the paper begins to demonstrate how globalised food networks embed themselves into specific agrarian spaces. These processes begin to socially and environmentally shape agricultural regions. Hence, the social and the natural have to be examined as integrated dynamics in the shaping of such 'new agrarian spaces' as the San Francisco Valley

Authority, Power and Value in Contemporary Industrial Food Systems

Within agro-food studies there is a growing appreciation that power is not limited to the interplay between actors engaged in production and consumption. Belatedly, actors in the spheres of distribution and exchange are being acknowledged, as is their role in the processes being enacted to constantly recommodify foods through reconceptualizing their values. The mobilisation of product branding and other “intangible assets”, including a corporate persona as authoritative, helps to explain the restructuring of contemporary industrial food systems. An examination of the Australian chicken meat commodity complex reveals how large food retail chains are positioning themselves as authority figures. The study confirms the emergence of a new form of authority in relation to food, i.e. market-mediated authority. The argument pivots around the activities of an ‘intermediary sector of the economy’, comprising experts and professionals who contribute to the setting of cultural standards around what is legitimate in food systems. This particular class fraction undertakes three activities in support of market-based authorities. First, it provides corporations with third party associations with more traditional authorities, especially health authorities; second, it mobilises symbolic capital to renew corporate charisma; and third, it brokers producer-consumer relations through providing expertise. The paper concludes that consumer authority is fleeting within a context of the corporate manipulation of intangible assets