The New Food Activism: Opposition, Cooperation, and Collective Action PDF
Preview The New Food Activism: Opposition, Cooperation, and Collective Action
The New Food Activism The New Food Activism OPPOSITION, COOPERATION, AND COLLECTIVE ACTION EDITED BY Alison Hope Alkon and Julie Guthman UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Oakland, California © 2017 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Alkon, Alison Hope, editor. | Guthman, Julie, editor. Title: The new food activism : opposition, cooperation, and collective action / Edited by Alison Hope Alkon and Julie Guthman. Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016053880 (print) | LCCN 2016057072 (ebook) | ISBN 9780520292130 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780520292147 (pbk.) | ISBN 9780520965652 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Food security—United States. | Sustainable agriculture— Social aspects—United States. | Organic farming—United States. | Food— Political aspects. | Food consumption—United States. | Social justice—United States. Classification: LCC TX360.U6 N486 2017 (print) | LCC TX360.U6 (ebook) | DDC 338.1/973—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016053880 Manufactured in the United States of America 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 CONTENTS Preface 1 • Introduction Alison Hope Alkon and Julie Guthman PART ONE REGULATORY CAMPAIGNS 2 • Taking a Different Tack: Pesticide Regulatory-Reform Activism in California Jill Lindsey Harrison 3 • How Canadian Farmers Fought and Won the Battle against GM Wheat Emily Eaton 4 • How Midas Lost Its Golden Touch: Neoliberalism and Activist Strategy in the Demise of Methyl Iodide in California Julie Guthman and Sandy Brown PART TWO WORKING FOR WORKERS 5 • Resetting the “Good Food” Table: Labor and Food Justice Alliances in Los Angeles Joshua Sbicca 6 • Food Workers and Consumers Organizing Together for Food Justice Joann Lo and Biko Koenig 7 • Farmworker-Led Food Movements Then and Now: United Farm Workers, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, and the Potential for Farm Labor Justice Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern PART THREE COLLECTIVE PRACTICES 8 • Collective Purchase: Food Cooperatives and Their Pursuit of Justice Andrew Zitcer 9 • Cooperative Social Practices, Self-Determination, and the Struggle for Food Justice in Oakland and Chicago Meleiza Figueroa and Alison Hope Alkon 10 • Urban Agriculture, Food Justice, and Neoliberal Urbanization: Rebuilding the Institution of Property Michelle Glowa 11 • Boston’s Emerging Food Solidarity Economy Penn Loh and Julian Agyeman 12 • Grounding the U.S. Food Movement: Bringing Land into Food Justice Tanya M. Kerssen and Zoe W. Brent 13 • Conclusion: A New Food Politics Alison Hope Alkon and Julie Guthman Contributors Index PREFACE This book is, in many ways, an attempt to address some of the debates and themes we have been writing about for nearly a decade, namely the ways that whiteness and neoliberalism constrain contemporary food politics and hamper the emergence of a multiracial, class-inflected movement that can transform both food systems and broader socio-environmental inequalities. While our previous work has drawn on social theory and ethnographic data to formulate these critiques, this book examines the ways that various food activists confront and move beyond them. Many times, scholars write only for one another. We are proud to be part of a discourse where this is most certainly not the case. We have had the pleasure of dialoguing about our work with those we’ve studied, and with those who are doing similar work across the country and around the world. Not only have our critiques been shaped by their perspectives and lived experiences, but we’ve been pleased to watch as they thoughtfully evaluate and discuss our writings. It’s an honor to now be able to write about their efforts to move beyond critiques and debates that, while happening at least in part within academia, are certainly not merely academic. For that reason, our first and most heartfelt thanks go to those who are doing this work on the ground, both those who are depicted in this book and those who are not. Secondly, we want to acknowledge the scholars with whom we’ve been discussing and debating these issues. Some are authors of the various chapters in this volume, while others have been our coauthors, conference panelists, students, and reviewers for this and other work on these themes. While we can’t name everyone, we want to especially acknowledge Patricia Allen and Rachel Slocum, whose under-acknowledged writings were ahead of their time and helped shape the critique that animates this book. To these multiple and intersecting communities, thank you for helping us to sharpen our insights, to push us beyond easy and obvious answers, and to make us responsive both to those we study and to broader political questions. This book is stronger because of our ongoing dialogues, and we look forward to continuing them into the future. Further, it’s been a pleasure to work with such a dedicated group of authors. Each of you took both our comments and our deadlines to heart and produced work that we think makes a real contribution. We also want to thank our reviewers for offering thoughtful responses that became integral to the manuscript.
The list of books you might like
