The international development of food and agriculture: global food regimes, environmental change and new configurations of power

At a current moment of politicized global debates surrounding food and agriculture, in which the manifold socio-ecological consequences of unsustainable development are increasingly evident, food regime analysis offers an ambitious approach to our understanding of the structuring of food relations in global capitalism. With a particular emphasis on the so-called ‘third’ food regime ostensibly arising in the period of unprecedented globalization in agri-food systems since the late 1980s, scholarly debate has paid sustained attention to corporate power and influence, as well as to the uneven ramifications of the global food regime for social justice and environmental transformations. Lately, evolving scholarship has increasingly acknowledged new configurations of power, with shifts towards the ‘South’ and the ‘East’ shaping an increasingly ‘multipolar’ or ‘polycentric’ food regime in the 21st century. This chapter traces current debates in food regime literature to take stock of these emergent dynamics. After having presented key characteristics of the food regime approach, the chapter outlines the vocal debate surrounding the ‘third’ food regime and, thereafter, proceeds to explore recent scholarship pertaining to new configurations of power including the ‘rise’ of China in the realm of agro-food.