Can Fairy Tales Come True? The Surprising Story of Neoliberalism and World Agriculture

The last half century has witnessed dramatic socio-technical changes in the agrifood sector, restructuring both city and countryside in radical ways. On the one hand, new genetic, genomic, transport and information technologies have become commonplace. On the other hand, new forms of intellectual property and new institutional structures have emerged. In particular, supply chain management and certification of suppliers have become commonplace activities among input suppliers and supermarket chains. At the same time various forms of resistance ranging from farmers' markets to organic production to fair trade have arisen. Why? Using the methods and insights of science studies, I argue that both agribusiness firms and their detractors have acted in response to the successful performances of neoliberalism in national and international settings. Hence, the current agrifood sector may be best understood as the product of continually evolving, and often conflict-ridden, negotiations between neoliberals, their supporters (who love it selectively) and their detractors. The moral of the story: fairy tales can come true, but they usually have surprise endings.