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Private labels (PLs), originally introduced by food retailers as low-priced alternatives to national brands, have expanded in recent years in premium market segments. This article examines how the ...

Desde fines del siglo XIX, los empresarios cafetaleros de la región Soconusco en Chiapas, con el apoyo del Estado, establecieron vínculos de producción, transformación y distribución del producto con importadores y torrefactores estadounidenses y europeos. El propósito del artículo es examinar las estrategias y alianzas establecidas por estos empresarios, principalmente desde la década de 1990 del siglo XX, para hacer frente a la reestructuración de la industria cafetalera y el ascenso de las empresas transnacionales en el contexto de la globalización. Entre esas estrategias se encuentra la diversificación de las actividades empresariales, la especialización en el negocio del café y la revalorización del territorio y el agroecosistema. En la investigación se emplearon principalmente métodos cualitativos para recuperar las experiencias y perspectivas de los principales agentes que participan en las cadenas de producción —empresarios finqueros del café, distribuidores, torrefactores—, miembros de organizaciones cafetaleras y de entidades públicas de la región y del estado. La principal conclusión es que los empresarios cafetaleros conformaron un grupo con diferentes grados de alianzas y disputas con actores transnacionales para consolidar diversas formas de inserción en la industria mundial del café; de tal forma que la globalización no implicó un control directo del flujo de recursos y procesos en la cadena del café.

School meals provide nourishment to a large portion of US schoolchildren. Research has examined the relationship between the consumption of school meals and the quality of schoolchildren's diets, with little emphasis on studying spillovers at the household level. Using National Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey data and unconditional quantile regression, we study the relationship between a household's quality of food‐at‐home acquisitions and the number of school meals acquired, subsampling households by their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participation status. We do not find strong evidence supporting beneficial spillovers of school meals on a household's quality of food‐at‐home acquisitions. JEL CLASSIFICATION C31; D12; I14; Q18

U.S. Congress repealed Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) for beef and pork in December 2015 to avoid retaliatory tariffs from Canada and Mexico. We simulate and compare economic impacts from these retaliatory tariffs with scenarios where COOL was repealed using a global economic modeling framework. Retaliation would have decreased North American trade, decreased U.S. welfare, and increased welfare for Canada and Mexico. Simulated effects of the COOL repeal show modest welfare increases in the United States, Mexico, and globally, with heterogeneous welfare effects for Canada. We discuss whether recent U.S. protectionist policies may lead to similar outcomes to those simulated here.

The mislabelling of agricultural and food products is one of the most common types of food fraud. Despite the frequency with which labelling fraud occurs, there is no empirical framework to study its welfare implications, the probability that it may occur, and the measures that can limit its occurrence. We present an empirical framework to study the economic consequences of food labelling fraud in a differentiated products food market. Such framework requires the availability of sales data and the use of an ‘attribute-space’ demand model. The model is applied to the Italian extra-virgin olive oil market to simulate the occurrence of fraudulent ‘100 per cent Italian’ claims. Our results indicate that potential consumer losses due to overpayments for a false claim are higher than manufacturer gains, suggesting that labelling fraud results in welfare losses and not just in welfare transfers. Simulation results indicate that the level of the current administrative fines is not likely to be effective to discourage ‘100 per cent Italian’ labelling fraud. Imposing larger fines or other measures negatively affecting a firm’s image could be more effective in deterring labelling fraud.

The chapter contends that the neoliberal claim of superiority of the free-functioning market has been critiqued and replaced by new and diverging views that address the crisis of neoliberalism and the rise of protectionist, ultra-nationalist, and racialized views advanced by populist, far-right, authoritarian movements and regimes. The rationale behind this argument rests on the tenet that capitalism is a contradictory system whose outcomes need to be rationalized and accepted by subordinate groups that do not benefit from them. Following this approach, the chapter discusses the historical conditions that supported the acceptance of neoliberalism. It also briefly reviews the implementation of neoliberalism and globalization by stressing the historical elements that allowed for their development. It further illustrates the crisis of neoliberalism and the populist reaction that followed. It underscores that the emergence of high levels of socioeconomic inequality and uncertainty along with the intervention of the state to address the crisis emanating from the Great Recession of 2008-2009 created the conditions for a restructuring of capitalism in the form of an emergent global neoliberal authoritarian capitalism. It concludes by pointing out the inability of neoliberalism, Trumpism, and right-wing populism to address the fundamental contradictions of contemporary capitalism, arguing that calls for economic protectionism, political isolationism, and the repressive control of global flows of labor run counter not only to fundamental democratic principles but also to the requirements of global capitalism and its form of capital accumulation today.

Purpose Psychological factors, such as body image dissatisfaction and the negative feelings associated with it may be related to the adoption of unhealthy eating behaviours. Also, body image dissatisfaction may lower the likelihood of engaging in long-term healthy eating habits and in the level of attention paid to the quality of the food consumed. As a result, body image may be related to consumers’ choice to purchase and consume health-enhancing food products. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach A pilot study of a small sample of Italian yogurt consumers was employed to explore if there is a relationship between respondents’ level of body image dissatisfaction and the number of health-enhancing yogurt choices. The data were collected by means of a virtual-shelf technique and were analysed using a negative binomial regression. Findings Results indicate that body image dissatisfaction is inversely related to the number of yogurt packages with health-enhancing features chosen from the virtual shelf. Also, respondents who read the nutrition label and those with more knowledge regarding leading functional yogurt brands, selected a higher number of functional yogurts from the virtual shelf compared, especially among women. Research limitations/implications The results indicate that body image dissatisfaction is inversely related to the number of yogurt packages with health-enhancing features chosen from the virtual shelf. Also, respondents who read the nutrition label and those with more knowledge regarding leading health-enhancing yogurt brands selected a higher number of health-enhancing yogurts options from the virtual shelf compared to others, especially among women. Originality/value The relationship between body image dissatisfaction and health-enhancing food choices has not been investigated in the consumer science and marketing literature. Additionally, this is one of the few papers that use a virtual shelf as a data-collection method.

Emphasis on local foods and local food systems has often meant that the importance of other scales goes unrecognized or underappreciated. While each scale has limitations, some food system experts now assert the benefits of the regional scale for its ability to foster a more sufficient, diverse, affordable, and resilient food system. This paper contributes to this debate by exploring people’s perceptions of regionally produced foods. Seven focus groups were conducted with a total of 51 participants across four locations in the U.S. Northeast. Topics discussed included the importance of knowing where food is sourced, how people described their region, personal connections to the region, globalization of food, importance of food origin, perceived benefits and drawbacks of regional foods, and the sense of efficacy and engagement involving food. While many participants were familiar with the concept of the local food system, their perceptions of the regional scale were weaker, less formed, and more diver­gent. These focus groups provide founda­tional insights into emerging consumer definitions and values related to regional food systems, which may help develop appropriately targeted messages to reinforce regional benefits.

Introduction Alessandro Bonanno, Kae Sekine and Hart N. Feuer Part I Theoretical Assumptions 1. Geographical Indication in Agri-Food and its Role in the Neoliberal Global Era: A Theoretical Analysis Alessandro Bonanno Part II The Asian Context 2. Geographical Indications out of Context and in Vogue: The Awkward Embrace of European Heritage Agricultural Protections in Asia Hart N. Feuer 3. The Impact of Geographical Indications on the Power Relations between Producers and Agri-Food Corporations: A Case of Powdered Green Tea "Matcha" Kae Sekine 4. Provenance for Whom? A Comparative Analysis of Geographical Indications in the EU and Indonesia Cinzia Piatti and Angga Dwiartama Part III Cases from Europe 5. How to Use Geographical Indication for the Democratization of Agricultural Production: A Comparative Analysis of GI Rent-seeking Strategies in Turkey Derya Nizan 6. Geographical Indications - A Double-Edged Tool for Food Democracy. The Cases of the Norwegian GI-Evolution and the Protection of Stockfish from Lofoten as Cultural Adaptation Work Atle Wehn Hegnes and Virginie Amilien 7. The Decline of the French Label of Origin Wine Romain Blancaneaux 8. Modern Resilience of Georgian Wine: Geographical Indications and International Exposure Anastasiya Shtaltovna and Hart N. Feuer Part IV Cases from the Americas 9. The Multi-level, Multi-actor and Multifunctional System of Geographical Indications in Brazil Paulo Niederle, John Wilkinson and Gilberto Mascarenhas 10. The GI of Mezcal in Mexico: A Tool of Exclusion for Small Producers Marie-Christine Renard and David Rodolfo Dominguez Arista 11. Whose Labor Counts as Craft? Terroir and Farm Workers in North American Craft Cider Anelyse Weiler 12. The Potential Role of Geographical Indication in Supporting Indigenous Communities in Canada Donna Appavoo and Monika Korzun 13. Conclusions: Comprehensive Change and the limits and Power of Sectorial Measures Alessandro Bonanno, Kae Sekine and Hart N. Feuer

In this review, we contextualise the articles in this special issue, relating them to existing food fraud research, and identify food fraud research trends, challenges and priorities for the near term. We accomplish these aims through a comprehensive review of research by food scientists, economists, other social scientists, legal experts, government research groups and international trade organisations. Existing food fraud research is heavily weighted towards food science, packaging and labelling, and legal areas of knowledge discovery. Moving forward, research is needed pertaining to general economic welfare outcomes from food fraud incidences, economic incentives to deter frauds, economic spillovers from fraud incidences to other food products and markets (domestic and international) and further delineation of the effect of different types of food fraud on consumer and producer welfare. The articles in this special issue make significant contributions to understanding of the role of food fraud in consumer decisions, measuring consumer welfare losses from fraud, food fraud spillover effects to other markets and new frameworks for fraud analysis.

Employing instances from the agri-food sector and a Critical Theory approach, the concept and actions known as best practices are criticized. This critique is directed at probing the “alternative” dimension of this construct. The analysis is carried out though the review of texts that advocate best practices. It is argued that the concept of best practices promotes and legitimizes neoliberalism by stressing its desirability, effectiveness and superiority in decision making. Best practices call for actions that transform the functioning of the market into the most desirable rationality. The superiority of the market is further employed to advocate the desirability of the neutralization of politics as market generated consensus is preferred to, and replaces, debates, contestation and political scrutiny. The rationale behind this posture rests on the neoliberal assumption that competitive advantage is the primary objective to be achieved. Accordingly, other forms of rationality are considered undesirable and, therefore, excluded. Downplaying structural issues, individual action is the preferred form of action for best practices and Neoliberalism alike. It is concluded that rather than representing a system that promotes alternative forms of action, best practices support the dominant ideology of Neoliberalism.

This study examined students' evaluations of faculty performance in traditional and online classes. The study design builds upon prior research that addressed socially relevant factors such as classroom environments, students' learning goals, expected, and received grades, and more importantly, students' ratings of instructors' performance. The sample consists of data from a population of humanities and social sciences faculty from a medium-sized southwest undergraduate university who taught both online and traditional classes during the semester periods Fall 2010 to Spring 2012. In a traditional setting, the evaluation factors (develops rapport with students, stimulates students, challenges student learning, provides timely feedback, and teaches fundamentals), and the external factors--(course level taught and gender)--were found to significantly contribute to faculty summary scores. In an online class, students consistently rank female instructors better. However, the evaluation criteria--develops student rapport, stimulates students, provides timely feedback, and teaches fundamentals (though not `challenges and involves students in their learning')--mirrored the same affects observed in the traditional classroom evaluations. The finding that "teaches fundamentals" received the largest standardized beta-coefficient in both classrooms further confirms earlier research that university students perceive course mastery as a major indicator of instructor performance regardless of gender or rank. However, the results indicate that students' perceptions are different when attending a traditional versus online classroom setting. This infers that synchronous and asynchronous settings require different teaching styles and different evaluation criteria.

This Chapter reviews the conditions that determine the legitimation crisis of global neoliberalism. It argues that the achievement of legitimation has always been linked to the management of the contradiction between the bourgeois claims of democracy and equality and the concentration of capital and power engendered by the development of capitalism. Under laissez-faire capitalism, this contradiction was resolved through the adoption of the nature-like functioning of the market as the organizing principle of society. Fordism was based on the organizing principle of state-regulated capitalism. As this form of legitimation was undermined by the crisis of the state, the impartiality of the free market proposed by neoliberals became the new organizing principle of society. However, as market mechanisms cannot address the contradictions of capitalism and state intervention is necessary, the legitimation crisis of neoliberalism developed. While solutions to the legitimation crisis are not available and substantive opposition remains weak, the chapter concludes, change is directed by corporate forces that will continue to pursue their interests and only marginally will grant some of the claims of subordinate groups.

This chapter probes salient ideological and cultural aspects of regulated capitalism. Presented through reviews of the ideas of Antonio Gramsci, Talcott Parsons, and Daniel Bell, these characteristics mandated the creation of a new will-formation that allowed the submission of the working class to the requirements of Fordist production. Additionally, the structuralist critique of Fordist cultural arrangements and Jurgen Habermas theory of the crisis of regulated capitalism are presented. The chapter continues by illustrating the contradictions of regulated capitalism will-formation. Following Habermas theory, it is argued that the culture and ideology of Fordism were incompatible with the requirements of capitalism and could not be upheld through state intervention. The state was unable to maintain mass loyalty while promoting the conditions necessary for the expansion of the economy.

Chapter 8 reviews the issue of resistance to neoliberalism by stressing its importance in the context of the creation of alternatives to the current status quo. The chapter further illustrates the corporate colonization of contemporary resistance for activist organizations associate with corporations and/or act like corporations. The concomitant commodification of activism indicates the tendency to frame actions of resistance in market terms. The chapter concludes by stressing that the corporate colonization of resistance and the commodification of activism coexist with high levels of labor exploitation.

This chapter proposes a theory of the neoliberal state under global neoliberalism. It opens with an analysis of the theories of the state proposed by Hayek, Friedman, and Becker. This analysis is followed by an illustration of the limits of the neoliberal theory of the state that stresses its realist component, its inability to account for the continuous intervention of the state, and the issues raised by the debate on the role of the state under globalization. This now copious literature is also reviewed. The remaining part of the chapter illustrates the book theory of the state under neoliberalism. It stresses the emergence of supranational and global forms of the state and contends that their existence is problematic not only because of their embryonic status but also because of the discrepancy between the evolution of the global economy and the less developed global polity. In this context, two structural problems assume relevance. First, the global state depends on the nation-state for the acquisition of resources and the appointment of its officialdom. Second, these forms of the state tend to be undemocratic. It is concluded that the consequences associated with this overall situation represent components of the crisis of system integration of global neoliberalism.

This chapter analyzes the conditions that created the early legitimation of global neoliberalism and later engendered its legitimation crisis. While the claim of impartiality of market relations legitimized neoliberalism, subsequent events engendered not only a crisis of system integration but also a crisis of social integration. The crisis of social integration is made explicit by the rampant dissatisfaction with the corporate domination of society that invalidates new forms of “civic privatism.” These conditions, the chapter concludes, delegitimize the message of desirability of an economy and society based on the free functioning of the market and its ideology.

This chapter stresses the point that contrary to arguments proposed by neoliberals, the state has consistently been a relevant actor in the organization of the economy and society. It indicates that the role played by the state was fundamental in the expansion and stability of capitalism in its early stages, during the laissez-faire era of the nineteenth century and under Fordism in the twentieth century. This argument is illustrated through a review of salient aspects of classical liberal theories of the state such as those of John Locke, Adam Smith, Jeremy Bentham, and John Stuart Mill and a brief review of the theory of Marx and early twentieth century contributions such as those of Karl Polanyic and John M. Keynes. An analysis of the theories of the role of the state under Fordism is proposed in the final sections of the chapter.

This chapter concludes the analysis of the crisis of Fordism by reviewing the structural contradictions that destabilized it. It reviews the conditions and requirements for the application of Keynesian economic policies and briefly illustrates their implementation in advanced and developing countries. It continues by elucidating the mechanisms through which the legitimation of the state regulation of the economy and society were pursued. In this context, it underscores the concepts of ideological legitimation and material legitimation and discusses Fordism unresolved contradictions of material legitimation. In particular, it analyzes the contradictions of the state management of the wage structure, the class nature of Fordism, state planning, and the inability of the state to reconcile bourgeois claims with the historical conditions. The chapter concludes by stressing the unsustainability of Fordism and contradictory position of the labor movement within this system.

This chapter continues the review of the basic tenets of neoliberalism through an analysis of salient ideas of two key members of the Chicago School of Economics: Milton Friedman and Gary Becker. It is stressed that Friedman provided a rationale for the desirability of supply-side economics and a justification of the notion of socio-economic inequality. Becker’s notions of “homo economicus” and “human capital” provided the tools to legitimize individual competition, individuality, and individual responsibility as they were presented as indispensable for the good functioning of the economy and society. The chapter concludes by stressing the contradictions embedded in the neoliberal notions of competition, inequality, and uncertainty.

This chapter illustrates salient socio-economic conditions that allowed the implementation of neoliberalism and reviews basic aspects of early theories of neoliberalism. It opens with an illustration of the transition from Fordism to neoliberalism and the development of neoliberal globalization. It underscores the creation of global networks of production and consumption and the emergence of the current global working class and global capitalist class. It further stresses the importance of the crisis of the left vis-a-vis discourses that discredited the negotiated solutions of the contradictions of capitalism and supported the impartiality and desirability of the functioning of the market. The fundamental ideological components of neoliberalism are illustrated through a review of relevant ideas of Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich von Hayek and the debate and events surrounding the evolution of neoliberalism from the creation of the Mont Pelerin Society to the first adoption of neoliberal ideas by the ordoliberals in the post-World War II West Germany. The chapter concludes by stressing the importance of the related concepts of the impartiality of the market and the “end of politics.”

This article probes the issue of stigma generated by the interaction of facially disfigured cancer patients with strangers and acquaintances (secondary groups). Now, patients with cancer of the face survive. As they survive, they spend significant portions of their lives dealing with stigma. Limited knowledge is available on the interaction processes leading to the creation of stigma for facially disfigured cancer patients. This article addresses this gap in the literature by reporting the results of a qualitative study of individuals who remained facially disfigured as a result of required surgery and cancer treatments. In-depth interviews with patients and their family members were conducted and analyzed employing grounded theory. Three primary analytical categories were generated to illustrate interaction with secondary groups: intrusion, sympathy, and benign neglect. These categories refer to conditions that are decreasingly favorable to the creation of stigma whereby intrusion and sympathy foster sti...

This case study explores how neoliberal policies shape the impacts of a natural disaster. We investigate the reactions to major damages to the electric power system and the restoration of power in the wake of Hurricane Ike, which devastated the Houston, Texas, metropolitan area in September 2008. We argue that the neoliberal policy agenda insured a minimalist approach to the crisis and generated dissatisfaction among many residents. The short-term profitability imperative shifted reconstruction costs to consumers, and prevented efforts to upgrade the electric power infrastructure to prepare for future disasters. We illustrate the serious obstacles for disaster mitigation and recovery posed by neoliberal policies that privatize public goods and socialize private costs. Neoliberalism neither addresses the needs of a highly stratified public nor their long-term interests and safety.

Employing primary data collected in the summer of 1991 in a representative survey of two farming areas in the territory of the republics of Russia and Ukraine, this study addresses the issue of the future involvement of collective and state-farm workers in private farming. Through the use of a LISREL model, it is argued that those who have been involved in small-scale private farming show no interest in expanding their farm operations or in buying or leasing additional land for farming. Moreover, it is maintained that those who intend to become farmers in privately owned and operated farms are more likely to be young, educated, and to some extent, ideologically committed to the free market system. A combination of structural constraints and a lack of knowledge regarding what to expect in the future can be viewed as possible explanations of the answers provided by respondents.

The relationship between transnational corporations (TNCs) in the agro-food sector and the nation-state in the context of global post-Fordism is examined through a case study of recent events involving the Ferruzzi transnational corporation. TNCs have a complex and contradictory set of relations with the state that are affected by competition among TNCs, by TNCs' internal disagreements, and by the fragmented nature of the state. The state assists TNCs through formal and informal channels. In this specific case, the informality of the system is underscored by the openly illegal arrangement that was operated for years by Ferruzzi officials and members of the officialdom of the state. However, the state also has the capacity to counter the actions of TNCs and to enforce the interests of subordinate groups.

This article contributes to the limited literature on the social consequences of cancer generated facial disfigurement by reporting the result of an exploratory analysis of interaction between facially disfigured cancer patients and strangers and acquaintances (secondary groups). Secondary groups are those in which membership occurs due to performance of formal and/or non-intimate roles. Interaction is studied as it takes place in different social settings. Indivi- duals who are affected by cancer of the head and neck region can now expect to survive for many years after the cancer is detected and later surgically removed. Because of surgery, these survivors live the rest of their lives with facial disfigurement and are stigmatized and socially excluded. It follows that a new and socially relevant situation has emerged: as medicine develops and allows more patients to survive, it forces them to spend significant portions of their lives dealing with the stigma associated with facial disfigurement. Research on social issues pertaining to facially disfigured cancer patients remains sparse. Limited knowledge has been produced on the “social context” within which interaction between the disfigured and relevant social groups takes place. To date most research has focused on the individual and his/her ability to adapt to the condition of facially disfigured. To address this scientific gap and document the manner through which the interaction process is socially created and evolves, interviews with fourteen facially disfigured cancer patients were carried out. These interviews were designed to reconstruct the interaction experiences of these individuals in different social contexts. Data were analyzed through the qualitative approach of grounded theory. Results indicate that patients can be divided into two groups: Occasionally Comfortable Patients and Always Comfortable Patients. Occasionally comfortable patients are individuals who experience different levels of comfort in interaction. In some situations they do not feel stigmatized, but other interactions constitute the contexts within which this discomfort emerges. Discomfort in interaction was employed as an indicator of stigmatization. Interacting groups were divided into small and large. Intrusion (unsolicited attention to patients) in interaction in large and small groups always generates uncomfortable situations. Sympathy (unsolicited comments and/or actions in support of patients) is associated with comfort in interaction in small groups and produces varying patterns in the case of large groups. Benign neglect (a situation in which interacting individuals do not pay particular attention to patients) produces comfort in interaction within large groups and varying outcomes in the case of small groups. Always comfortable patients are those who do not experience discomfort in interaction regard- less of the size and characteristics of the interacting group. The article concludes by stressing that facially disfigured cancer patients should be prepared to face different interaction patterns. Simultaneously, efforts should be made to educate patients and the general public about these interaction patterns.

Purpose Patients who undergo orbital exenteration often experience social problems because of their facial disfigurement. The authors studied the interaction of cancer patients who had undergone orbital exenteration with family members and friends (primary groups) and with acquaintances and strangers (secondary groups) in small and large groups. Methods In-depth telephone interviews were conducted with 12 patients treated at a cancer center (7 men and 5 women aged 51-81 years) and 12 family members (8 spouses and 4 children or siblings). Three patients had adenoid cystic carcinoma of lacrimal gland, 3 had squamous cell carcinoma of conjunctiva/eyelid, and 1 each had conjunctival melanoma, eyelid sebaceous gland carcinoma, transitional cell carcinoma of lacrimal sac, adenocarcinoma of orbit, neuroendocrine carcinoma of orbit, and basal cell carcinoma of eyelid. Time from orbital exenteration to interview ranged from 8 months to 36 years (median, 44 months). Results Two patient groups were identified according to comfort in interactions with acquaintances and strangers. Always comfortable patients were always at ease. Occasionally comfortable patients were at ease in large groups in situations of "benign neglect" and in small groups when they received "sympathy"; were uncomfortable in large and small groups when episodes of "intrusion" occurred; and had mixed responses to benign neglect in small groups and sympathy in large groups. Both patient groups felt comfortable with family members and friends. Conclusions Patients who will undergo orbital exenteration should be warned about possible difficulties with social interactions. Healthcare personnel should be trained to help patients and family members prepare for such difficulties.

Employing the case of the expansion and regulation of hog confined animal feeding operations (CAFO) in Texas combined with the actions of the transnational agri-food corporation Seaboard Farms, Inc., this paper probes the relationship between the state and corporations in the global era. It specifically investigates the ability of the state to control agrifood corporations in a context in which the hyper-mobility of capital has increasingly allowed corporations to by-pass state regulations and requirements. Salient literature is reviewed by grouping it into three camps: the first views the state as largely controlled by corporations; the second stresses the powers left to the state and the fact that corporations need state assistance to successfully operate in the current global economy; and the third acknowledges the crisis of the nation-state under globalization but maintains that the state has retained some ability to resist globalization forces. The case study documents the expansion of Seaboard Farms' hog operations in the Panhandle Region of Texas and nearby states and its interaction with local and state governments and agencies. The article indicates that the relationship between transnational corporations and the state is contradictory. Its source rests on the fracture between varying postures maintained by the state and the relatively homogenous behavior of the CAFO corporations. The case also reveals that the state's limited control of corporate actions is facilitated by state strategies; that corporate actions are successful if corporations enlist the cooperation of the state; and the state is able to control resistance and legitimize its actions to its constituencies. These conditions, however, do not prevent the emergence of anti-corporate resistance at local and state levels. In the search for new forms of socioeconomic development, local residents and their leaders should be aware of corporations' ability to affect state action, state postures that favor corporate designs, and the fact that success-ful opposition to corporate designs can be, and is, carried out.

With the enactment of Regulation (EC) No. 1924/2006, 20 December 2006, ‘On nutrition and health claims made on foods’ several health claims can no longer be used on food products in European markets. We simulate the overall impact of the regulation on consumers and producers using the Italian yogurt market as a case study, and data prior to the introduction of the policy. We quantify welfare losses incurred if accepted claims were false, and simulate scenarios where rejected truthful health claims are removed, considering also the case where the products carrying them exit the market. We find that consumers can incur large welfare losses if approved claims are untruthful; if truthful claims are instead denied both consumers and producers may incur losses, with consumers being penalised more than producers.

This article first reviews debates that stress the contrasting interpretations of globalization existing at the social, political, and economic levels. Globalization is defined in terms of the combined processes of acceleration of time and compression of social space. The development of transnational corporations (TNCs) since the 1960s reveals that these organizations, that operate globally and do not necessarily identify with a particular country, play an increasingly important role in the global economy, politics, and society. This article reviews the primary interpretations of the position and role of TNCs under globalization.

Employing the case of theredwood Headwaters forest in rural NorthernCalifornia, this paper investigates the extentto which an anti-corporate progressive alliancebetween labor and the environmental movement ispossible in contemporary global capitalism.Progressive alliances between labor and theenvironmental movement have been historicallydifficult. This has been particularly the casein the timber industry, where companies havebeen able to mobilize workers againstenvironmentalists' designs. The caseillustrates the events that led to the purchaseof the Headwaters Forest by the state ofCalifornia and the Federal Government fromPacific Lumber. This is a subsidiary of Maxxam,a corporation with interests in a variety ofeconomic sectors. The objective was to haltMaxxam's rampant deforestation of old growthredwood. Though conflict between labor andenvironmentalists existed, the casedemonstrates that the labor and theenvironmental movement were united againstMaxxam. They, however, were not completelysuccessful in their struggle as Maxxam greatlybenefited from the state-sponsored landpurchase. Maxxam gained economically, was ableto shape the ideological framework throughwhich the purchasing agreement was achieved,and extended its hegemony over the state. Thisoutcome cast doubts on the possibility thatcurrent forms of environmental protection couldtranscend commodified and reductionistpostures. Simultaneously, the existence of acommon anti-corporate consciousness among largesegments of labor and the environmentalmovement makes the environment a contestedterrain and allows for some optimism about thefuture of the struggle for ecologically soundsocial arrangements.

In liberal thought, democracy is guaranteed by the unity of community and government. The community of citizens elects its government according to political preferences. The government rules over the community with powers which are limited by unalienable human, civil, and political rights. These assumptions have characterized Classical Liberalism, Revisionist Liberalism and contemporary Neo-liberal theories. However, the assumed unity of community and government becomes problematic in Global Post-Fordism. Recent research on the globalization of the economy and society has underscored the increasing inability of nation-states to exercise power over their communities which, in turn, limits the ability of communities to express their will at the nation-state level. The current phase of capitalism is characterized by socio-economic relations which transcend the jurisdictions of nation-states and local spaces. This paper addresses the issue of the fracture of the unity of community and government by introducing feature characteristics of Classical Liberalism, Revisionist Liberalism and Neo-liberalism. Moreover, it analyzes the contribution of the theory of Reflexive Modernization which represents a novel attempt to rethink democracy within the liberal tradition. The paper concludes that the inability of governments to control economic and non-economic environments creates a crisis of representation which implies serious limits to liberal democracy. This situation is particularly important for rural regions as their socio-economic development, and programs for its democratization have been historically based on the intervention of agencies of and control by the nation-state.

Hog odor is the most divisive issue ever in agriculture, damaging the fabric of rural society and disenfranchising pork producers from their communities. [R. Douglas Hurt, Director of the Center for Agriculture History and Rural Studies, Iowa State University quoted in Smith 1998:1]

In liberal thought, democracy is guaranteed by the unity of community and government. The community of citizens elects its government according to political preferences. The government rules over the community with powers that are limited by unalienable human, civil, and political rights. These assumptions have characterized Classical Liberalism, Revisionist Liberalism, and contemporary Neo-Liberal theories. However, the assumed unity of community and government becomes problematic in Global Post-Fordism. Recent research on the globalization of the economy and society has underscored the increasing inability of nation-states to exercise power over their communities, which, in turn, limits the ability of communities to express their will at the nation-state level. The current phase of capitalism is characterized by socio-economic relations that transcend the jurisdictions of nation-states and local spaces. By introducing features characteristic of Classical Liberalism, Revisionist Liberalism and Neo-liberalism, and the contribution of the theory of Reflexive Modernization, which represents a novel attempt to rethink democracy within the liberal tradition, the issue of the fracture of the unity of community and government can be addressed. The inability of governments to control economic and non-economic environments creates a crisis of representation that implies serious limits to liberal democracy. This situation is particularly important for the agricultural and food sector since its development and programs for its democratization have been historically based on the intervention of agencies of and control by the nation-state.

This paper uses a case study methodology and a Critical Theory framework to interpret corporate crimes committed by the transnational corporation Ferruzzi. Building upon the literature on the crisis of Fordism, the globalization of the economy and society, and corporate crime, it is argued that Ferruzzi was involved in a systematic violation of laws. The analysis points to the fact that these behaviors are endemic to capitalism as they are rooted in the contradiction between capital accumulation and substantive democracy in advanced Western societies. Democratic calls for the establishment of broader participation of subordinate classes in the direction of society create obstacles to the action of profit-seeking corporations. Corporations bypass these obstacles through illegal maneuvers which, today, are made possible by the transnational nature of their activities.

Introduction Steven A. Wolf and Alessandro Bonanno Part 1: Theoretical Analyses and Key Concepts 1. The Legitimation Crisis of Neoliberal Globalization: Instances from Agriculture and Food Alessandro Bonanno 2. How Neoliberal Myths Endanger Democracy and Open New Avenues for Democratic Action Lawrence Busch 3. Policing the New Enclosures: On Violence, Primitive Accumulation, and Crisis in the Neoliberal Food System Morgan Buck Part 2: Case Studies 4. The Rise and Fall of a Prairie Giant: the Canadian Wheat Board in Food Regime History Andre Magnan 5. Navigating the Neoliberal-Nativist Interface: Farmer Survival and the Construction of Racially Segregated Workplaces Jill Harrison 6. Creating Rupture through Policy: Considering the Importance of Ideas in Agrifood Change Rebecca L. Som Castellano 7. Beyond Farming: Cases of Revitalization of Rural Communities through Multi-Role Community Farming Enterprise as Social Service Provider Haruhiko Iba and Kiyohiko Sakamoto Part 3: Research Opportunities 8. To Bt or not to Bt? State, Civil Society, and Firms Debate GM Seeds in Democratic India Devparna Roy 9. Turning of the Tide: Rising Discontent over Transgenic Crops in Brazil Karine Peschard 10. U.S. Agrienvironmental Policy: Neoliberalization of Nature Meets Old Public Management Steven A. Wolf 11. For Competitiveness Sake?: Material Competition vs. Competitiveness as a National Project Anouk Patel-Campillo 12. The Neoliberal Food Regime in Latin America: State, Agribusiness Transnational Corporations and Biotechnology Gerardo Otero 13. 'Just Another Asset Class'?: Neoliberalism, Finance, and the Construction of Farmland Investment Madeleine Fairbairn 14. Neoliberalism in the Antipodes: Understanding the Influence and Limits of the Neoliberal Political Project Geoffrey Lawrence Hugh Campbell 15. Conclusion: The Plasticity and Contested Terrain of Neoliberalism Steven A. Wolf and Alessandro Bonanno

Employing the case of the global tuna-fish industry, it is argued that the process of globalization is contested terrain as it opens “free spaces” to some classes or groups and closes “free spaces” to others; that the nation-States' regulatory abilities are weakened; and finally, that while some social movements may gain, others are marginalized. Three basic conclusions are reached. (1) The industry's actions were successfully “contested” by environmental groups supported by the legislative and judicial branches of the US State. (2) Simultaneously, pro-environmental legislation is currently threatened, along with several national and international environmental accords. (3) Workers in the US and, particularly, in Latin America are paying the consequences of the introduction of pro-environmental legislation and the actions of transnational corporations (TNCs).

Patients with orbital and periorbital cancer expect to be cured or survive for several years after their malignancy is detected and surgically removed. However, despite advancements in reconstructive surgery, survivors often remain facially disfigured and spend significant portions of their lives dealing with stigma, a mark of social disgrace. Although research remains limited, this article describes a qualitative study of social interaction leading to stigma in individuals with facial disfigurement caused by cancer surgery, as well as the experiences of their family members. In particular, the current study focused on interaction between patients and strangers and acquaintances (secondary groups). In-depth interviews with patients and their family members were conducted and analyzed using Grounded Theory. Three primary patterns of interaction were identified: intrusion, sympathy, and benign neglect. Those patterns refer to conditions that are decreasingly favorable to the creation of stigma, where intrusion and sympathy foster stigma but benign neglect does not. Through that knowledge, oncology nurses will be able to better inform patients and family members on the conditions leading to stigma.

Fordism refers to the twentieth-century phase of capitalism (c.1918–1978), characterized by the centrality of bureaucratized firms, an interventionist state, national unions, and the coordination of mass production and mass consumption. This system reached its peak in the first two post–World War II decades, and entered its final crisis in the 1970s. By the 1980s, pertinent literature described the contemporary socio-economic conditions as post-Fordist. Keywords: capitalism; commodity; industrialization; labor; labor supply; manufacturing; productivity

Employing the case of the European Community, the paper discusses the relationship between the state and the economy in the evolving global organization of the agricultural and food sector. It is maintained that a gap between the sphere of action of the economy and the sphere of action of the state has been created. This situation is the consequence of the process of globalization which has characterized the evolution of socio-economic arrangements. Furthermore, it is maintained that this gap has been partially addressed by the emergence of transnational state forms. This solution, however, is ultimately partial as it entails a spatial dimension which does not encompass the global range of activity of transnational economic actors.

We address here how the U.S. neoliberal policy regime developed and how its reconstructed vision of modernization, which culminated, under the rubric of globalization, was neutralized by 9/11 and neoconservative geopolitics. We analyze the phases in the rise of neoliberalism, and provide a detailed map of its vision of global modernization at its high tide under Clinton. We also address how the Bush Doctrine's unilateral, preemptive polices and the consequent War on Terror and Iraq War eroded U.S. legitimacy as the globalization system's hegmon and shifted the discourse from globalization to empire. Cold War modernization theorists, neoliberal globalization advocates, and Bush doctrine neoconservatives all drew on an American exceptionalist tradition that portrays the U.S. as modernity's “lead society,” attaches universal significance to its values, policies, and institutions, and urges their worldwide diffusion. All three traditions ignore or diminish the importance of substantive equality and social justice. We suggest that consequent U.S. policy problems might be averted by recovery of a suppressed side of the American tradition that stresses social justice and holds that democracy must start at home and be spread by example rather than by exhortation or force. Overall, we explore the contradictory U.S. role in an emergent post-Cold War world.

Arguably democracy and globalization are among the most debated topics in contemporary scientific, political and cultural circles. Indeed, for some optimistic observers, these two phenomena are end points. Globalization is a process that generates economic prosperity and provides fresh opportunities for the emancipation of selves. Democracy is a product of previous phases of the evolution of society, but it has reached its most advanced form in this post-Fordist, post-cold war, global society (e.g. Friedman, 2000; Fukuyama, 1992). For critical thinkers, however, the growth of globalization problematizes the existence and practice of democracy. In an interesting convergence of opinions, this latter group includes radical conservative and progressive theorists alike. Radical Conservatives have argued that globalization engenders a crisis of democracy and that this situation is to be addressed through a retreat to the local and the ethnic. This new tribalism (Antonio, 2000; de Benoist, 1995) features attacks against the “move to the center” (the Clinton-Blair centralism) of many historically leftist and progressive liberal groups. The critics contend that the mainstream parties have converged and that neither the conventional left or right offer alternatives to the dominant neo-liberal approach, crisis-ridden post World War II idea of socio-economic development, or the erosion of sovereignty entailed by globalization. In this regard, the radical right proposes the replacement of “demos” with “ethnos” as the key organizational concept for contemporary society.

Discussions of the position of the elderly have typically been cast in terms of demographic considerations and/or level of industrialisation. In contradistinction to this approach we employ a political economic perspective which reveals the contradictions present in the situation of aged small farmers in southern Italy. Using a dialectic approach, it is argued that the function performed by the small farm sector, that of keeper of the surplus labour force, is extended to deal with the elderly population. Within this context, rurality assumes a permanent posture as the aged farmers are maintained at the margin of the labour market and are eventually expelled from it. At the same time, this farming segment substitutes for other social agencies as a caretaker for a portion of the older population. This function, however, creates social tensions for it mandates continuous State support for the survival of these farms, demands which are resisted by the bourgeoisie and certain segments of the working class. Even if it were deemed appropriate, the State cannot extend its support to small farms without simultaneously calling forth a fiscal and legitimation crisis stemming from its policy coverage.

This study investigates the socio-historical relationships existing between the development of the agricultural structure and the process of technical development. Adopting a political economy posture, it is argued that the development of technical procedures in agriculture has been aimed historically at the maximization of production and productivity. This phenomenon has been generated by the social hegemony of groups interested in the enhancement of accumulation of capital and has been translated into an emphasis on large productive units, which discriminates against small and medium farms. This pattern of development has been legitimized through a social consensus which involves an emphasis on small family producers. This contradiction is embodied in the generation of a dualistic agricultural structure characterized by the prosperity of large farms, the persistence of small farms and the crisis of medium farms and in patterns of overproduction and unavailability of food for the poor segments of society.

This paper provides an analytical panorama of agriculture in the European context to be employed as a background for reading the articles contained in this issue of Agriculture and Human Values. Brief summaries of their contents constitute the concluding part of the present contribution.