Rethinking Food Systems: Structural Challenges, New Strategies and the Law

• Published in: Journal of world-systems research 2016, Vol.22 (1), p.282
• Main Author: Ferrando, Tomaso
• Format: Review
• Language: English
• Subjects: Food; Inequality; Intellectual property; International organizations; International trade; Law; Political activism; Property; Property rights; Trade
• ISSN: 1076-156X
• DOI: 10.5195/jwsr.2016.646

[...]even critical legal scholars seldom engage with the role of law in defining how food is produced and distributed, and when they do, they tend to criticize the status quo without engaging in any constructive endeavor. In particular, I found the expectations generated by the introduction only partially satisfied by the subsequent three sections, although I must admit that I approached the volume with a critical legal background, some knowledge of the link between law and the food system, and the conviction that law is not only indeterminate, but also an instrument of coercion that favors those who 'act from above.' [...]the comments below are expressed from the point of view of someone who both considers it essential to talk about law and legal reforms in the context of the historical and contingent allocation of power, and believes that law cannot lead to any systemic transformation without the redefinition of the way in which resources are allocated between and within communities. [...]I was left with the idea that the authors and editors should have manifested a stronger sensibility toward the historical construction of the global food system and the interconnected nature of the legal structures that lurk behind it. [...]we must be more cautious when suggesting that legal changes can lead to the desired outcomes (including when coherence is obtained between the right to food and the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, or TRIPS, as suggested by Hauger in chapter 9).