Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Political Ecology of Food Sovereignty Movements in Neoliberal India

博士论文研究：新自由主义印度粮食主权运动的政治生态

• 批准号: 0826287
• 负责人: Krisnawati Suryanata
• 金额: $ 1.2万
• 依托单位: University of Hawaii
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-08-15 至 2010-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0826287&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Political; Ecology

Food sovereignty movements are part of a growing trend of alternative agricultural movements that are based on the notion of local autonomy, whereby food production, distribution and consumption are controlled by local communities with the aim of increasing farmers' control over their farming practices and thus their lives. The main objective of this research is to understand the roles of localized social movements in mediating the impacts of neoliberal economic policies in poor rural regions. Using a political ecology framework that examines how global and local processes interact along with an understanding of the history of agrarian transitions in the region, this research uses the Deccan Development Society food sovereignty initiative in the "hunger belt" of India as a case study. The main questions are: What institutions have been crucial to food sovereignty movements? How do they develop, what sorts of changes do they bring about, and how are they networked? Who are the primary beneficiaries of food sovereignty? What is the impact of food sovereignty on farmers in their particular agroecological environments? What attitudes do diverse interest groups have toward food sovereignty initiatives? This research uses both quantitative and qualitative data including census data, surveys, participant observation, in-depth interviews, institutional rules and regulations, and policies. Analysis includes quantitative (statistical) and ethnographic (discourse and content analysis) methods that will allow for both an in-depth understanding of a specific local context as well as an appreciation of the broader implications of food sovereignty for food security and rural livelihoods. The findings are expected to support the hypothesis that, where food sovereignty institutions address the diverse socioeconomic needs of small farmers and are embedded within their cultural norms and where marginalization and the dependence on agriculture is high, food sovereignty movements are most effective in alleviating agrarian distress.The research will contribute to the growing literature on agrarian transitions, alternative agriculture and localized social movements, with respect to the impact of global agro-food regimes on the rural poor. By drawing attention to the interrelated issues of gender, class/caste, access to resources, and food security this research will highlight the political and gendered struggles in local agricultural systems within the increasingly corporate face of food production. Most studies of contemporary agrarian transitions in Asia have focused on the inevitability of the market's growing reach into the countryside, and the ways in which small farmers are adapting to this global phenomenon. However, little is known with regard to the role of localized social movements in affecting agrarian transitions. In the face of the current global world food crisis, and its implications for food security, this research serves to enhance our understanding of contemporary alternatives to participating in the neoliberal global agro-food regime. The broader impacts of investigating localized agricultural systems that espouse food sovereignty principles opens avenues for participation of highly marginalized and underrepresented groups, such as the Dalit (untouchable) and other poor farmers, in the development discourse generally dominated by state institutions and world markets.

粮食主权运动是基于当地自治概念的替代农业运动趋势的一部分，在当地自治的概念中，粮食生产，分配和消费受到当地社区的控制，目的是增加农民对农业实践的控制权，从而增加他们的生活。这项研究的主要目的是了解局部社会运动在调解贫穷农村地区新自由主义经济政策的影响方面的作用。使用一个政治生态框架，该框架研究了全球和地方过程如何以及对该地区农业过渡历史的了解，这项研究使用了印度“饥饿带”中的Deccan发展社会食品主权倡议作为案例研究。主要问题是：哪些机构对食品主权运动至关重要？他们如何发展，他们带来什么样的变化，以及如何联网？谁是食品主权的主要受益者？食品主权对农民在特定的农业生态环境中的影响是什么？各种利益集团对食品主权倡议有什么态度？这项研究使用定量和定性数据，包括人口普查数据，调查，参与者观察，深入访谈，机构规则和法规以及政策。分析包括定量（统计）和民族志（话语和内容分析）方法，这些方法将既可以深入了解特定的当地环境，又可以欣赏食品主权对粮食安全和农村生计的广泛含义。这些发现有望支持以下假设：在食品主权机构满足小型农民的各种社会经济需求的地方，并嵌入其文化规范中，边缘化和对农业的依赖性高，而对农业的依赖性则是最有效的，可以减轻越来越多的社会性研究，替代了农业的研究。关于全球农业食品制度对农村贫困人口的影响。通过提请人们注意性别，阶级/种姓，资源的机会和粮食安全的相互关联的问题，这项研究将突出越来越多的企业生产企业面临中当地农业系统中的政治和性别斗争。大多数关于亚洲当代农业过渡的研究都集中在市场越来越多地覆盖乡村的必然性，以及小型农民适应这种全球现象的方式。但是，关于局部社会运动在影响农业过渡中的作用知之甚少。面对当前的全球世界粮食危机及其对粮食安全的影响，这项研究旨在增强我们对参加新自由主义全球农业食品制度的当代替代方案的理解。调查局部农业制度的更广泛的影响，这些农业系统拥护粮食主权原则为参与高度边缘化和代表性不足的群体（例如达利特（Dalit）（不可触摸）和其他贫穷农民）的途径在发展话语中通常由州立机构和世界市场主导。