Combining innovative social theory with ongoing policy discussions on climate change, this book analyzes past and present efforts at challenging global poverty through reforming the dynamics of worldwide agricultural production.
Focusing on the efforts of the World Bank and CGIAR research centers, particularly through research and projects that have been launched by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), "Climate-Smart" to "Climate-Just exposes how neoliberal principles of limited government and individual entrepreneurship have expanded through the development of "Climate-Smart Agriculture." At the same, an alternative - "Climate-Just Agriculture is becoming possible as rightwing populists have disrupted international free trade orthodoxy, and social movement demands for food sovereignty gain traction in key international spaces.
As Pahnke explains in this innovative account, "Climate-Just Agriculture" includes structural changes to free trade agreements that would build from local and regional food systems to make them resilient in the face of the adverse effects of climate change. This resiliency, moreover, allows marginalized groups the capacity to create and participate in markets that allow for greater self-sufficiency as they push back on colonialism and imperialism.
Written in a clear and accessible style, this book will be essential reading to students and scholars of sociology, environmental studies, and politics, as well as policymakers and professionals involved with climate change policy and the agriculture and food industry.
Combining innovative social theory with ongoing policy discussions on climate change, this book analyzes past and present efforts at challenging global poverty through reforming the dynamics of worldwide agricultural production.
Introduction: The Climate CrisisFrom the Farm to the World Bank,
1.
Bringing Political Economy Back into Critical Theory with Agriculture and
Climate Politics,
2. Universalizing Capitalist Ideology with International
Institutions and the Development of Climate-Smart Agriculture,
3. Power,
Ideology, and Practice within Discussions of Climate-Smart Agriculture,
4.
Policy Pathways from Climate-Smart to Climate-Just Agriculture in
International Institutions, Conclusion: Climate Justice Beyond the Latest
Populist Moment
Anthony Pahnke is an Associate Professor of International Relations at San Francisco State University. His research has appeared in journals such as New Political Science, International Studies Review, and the Journal of Agrarian Change, among others. He is also the author of Brazils Long Revolution: Radical Achievements of the Landless Workers Movement (2018) and Agrarian Crisis in the United States: Pathways for Reform (2023). His popular writings on agriculture, immigration, and international politics have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The Progressive, and The Hill, as well as in other print and online publications. He has remained active in small-scale farmer and farmworker organizations for over twelve years.