International Political Economy of Agriculture｜Kyoto University OpenCourseWare

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International Political Economy of Agriculture
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Numbering Code	G-ECON31 6A595 LE82 G-ECON31 6A595 LE43	Year/Term	2022 ・ Second semester
Number of Credits	2	Course Type	Lecture
Target Year		Target Student
Language	English	Day/Period	Mon.3・4
Instructor name	HISANO SHUJI (Graduate School of Economics Professor)
Outline and Purpose of the Course	This course provides a comprehensive and critical view on the development and current state-of-affairs of agriculture and food governance at the global, national and local levels by referring to various theoretical frameworks and concepts of international political economy and agri-food sociology, especially with a focus on the unequal power relations between various actors. We will discuss issues and prospects of agriculture and food governance from the perspectives of “sustainable development” and “food sovereignty”. In the previous semester, our focus was on the concept of "food as a commons" that has re-emerged as a transformative narrative and framing to challenge the mainstream paradigm of food as a commodity, to broaden our imagination to explore and practice alternative paradigm of food and food systems. Although the theme (and the literature) of this semester is not decided yet as of February 2022, it will be more or less related to local food policy and alternative food networks, with a special focus on the empowerment of food eaters as food citizens as well as the process of upscaling from local niche initiatives to institutional and governance transformation.
Course Goals	Through this course, students will acquire critical and interdisciplinary approaches to social, economic, political, cultural, and environmental issues surrounding agriculture and food, and gain insight into fundamental social science issues such as “structure and agency” and “power of discourse”.
Schedule and Contents	Every year, textbooks used in this course are different, but we use either introductory books with high international recognition for textbooks so that even beginners of agri-food studies or international political economy and sociology can learn effectively, or handbook-style books with theoretically and conceptually elaborated introduction chapter and well-structured chapters that cover most of important issues and problems and include rich case studies. In the past years, we read the following books together: [2019] Jason Konefal & Maki Hatanaka, eds., Twenty Lessons in the Sociology of Food and Agriculture, Oxford UP, 2019. [2020] Jessica Duncan, Michael Carolan & Johannes S.C. Wiskerke, eds., Routledge Handbook of Sustainable and Regenerative Food Systems, Routledge, 2020. [2021] Jose Louis Vivero-Pol, Tomaso Ferrando, Olivier De Schutter & Ugo Mattei, eds., Routledge Handbook of Food as a Commons, Routledge, 2018. In this semester, we will read a book or two on the above-mentioned topic. Apart from that, we will use the following handbook as a reference: A. H. Akram-Lodhi, Kristina Dietz, Bettina Engels and Ben M. McKay, eds. (2021) Handbook of Critical Agrarian Studies, Edward Elgar Publishing. DOI:https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788972468 The following is the previous year’s course schedule, Just for your reference. Week 1. Introduction / The food commons are coming... Week 2-3. Part I: Rebranding food and alternative narratives of transition --- The idea of food as a commons / The food system as a commons / Food security as a global public good Week 4-5. Part II: Exploring the multiple dimensions of food --- Comminuty-based commons and rights systems / Food as cultural core / Food as a commodity Week 6-7. Part III: Food-related elements considered as commons --- Traditional agricultural knowledge / Scientific knowledge / Genetic resources / Water, food and climate Week 8-9. Part IV: Commoning from below: Current examples of commons-based food systems --- Agroecology movement in Cuba / The commoning of food governance in Canada / Community-building through food provisioning Week 10-11. Part V: Dialogue of alternative narratives of transition --- Food as a commons and food sovereignty / Land as a commons / Civic food networks and social emancipation Week 12-13. Part VI: Conclusions --- Towards a new relationship between the public, the civic and the private Week 14-15. Wrap-up and feedback
Evaluation Methods and Policy	Grading will be carried out on a basis of active class participation (70%) and assignment presentation/report (30%).
Course Requirements	No prerequisite knowledge or skill required other than English language ability sufficient to interact actively in class.
Study outside of Class (preparation and review)	Students are required to read the assigned articles and book chapters for each class as well as other relevant reading materials so that they will be able to actively participate in discussions.
Textbooks	Textbooks/References	Handbook of Critical Agrarian Studies, A. H. Akram-Lodhi, Kristina Dietz, Bettina Engels and Ben M. McKay, eds., (Edward Elgar, 2021), ISBN:9781788972451, https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788972468 Reading materials will be made available in advance through the course mailing list and/or a cloud system.
References, etc.	Twenty Lessons in the Sociology of Food and Agriculture, Jason Konefal and Maki Hatanaka eds., (Oxford UP, 2019), ISBN:9780190662127 Routledge Handbook of Sustainable and Regenerative Food Systems, Jessica Duncan, Michael Carolan & Johannes S.C. Wiskerke, eds., (Routledge, 2020) Routledge Handbook of Food as a Commons, Jose Louis Vivero-Pol, Tomaso Ferrando, Olivier De Schutter & Ugo Mattei, eds., (Routledge, 2018) Recommended reading materials will be made available in advance as well as in class through the course mailing list and/or a cloud system.