Corporate Power in Global Agrifood Governance
本书基于2006年加拿大研讨会，分析跨国公司在全球食品和农业治理中如何运用工具、结构和话语权力，及其对食品系统可持续性的影响。
It is the fourth book on the Food, Health, and Environment series. The series provides a window into the public debates, theoretical considerations, and multidisciplinary perspectives that have made food systems and their connections to health and the environment important subjects of study. This book originated with a workshop held in Waterloo, Ontario, in December 2006 on the theme of corporate power in global food governance. The contributing authors draw upon a globally integrated food system that affects all regions of the world. Transnational corporations (TNCs) have been central actors in the development of this global food system, dominating production, international trade, processing, distribution, and retail sectors. This book examines how TNCs exercise power over global food and agriculture governance and what the consequences are for the sustainability of the global food system. The first chapter by the editors deals with agrifood corporations, global governance, and sustainability. In the framework to conceptualise corporate power in global food governance, three aspects of power are defined. First is the instrumental power or direct influence, attempting to wield in policy processes via corporate lobbying or political campaign financing. Second is the structural power taking into consideration the influence that corporate actors have over setting agendas and making proposals as a product of their material position within states and the global economy more broadly. Third is the discursive or communicative and persuasive power. Power not only pursues interests, but also creates them. It provides a basis for a more comprehensive explanation of how political systems prevent certain demands from becoming political issues. The various facets of corporate power can play a role in setting the parameters and tone of debates about the sustainability implications of various models of organisation for global food and agriculture, more specific about food safety concern and the introduction of genetically modified foods.