15 May Feminist Political Economy of Global Food Governance: Mapping Transformations in Agricultural Development

Call for Papers:  Feminist Political Economy of Global Food Governance: Mapping Transformations in Agricultural Development

56th International Studies Association (ISA) Annual Convention
February 18-21, 2015, New Orleans
The food price crisis of 2007-2008 highlighted the fragility of food security and led to renewed calls to rethink agricultural policies and to transform the global agrifood system. Feminist scholars emphasize that food insecurity is not simply a result of food scarcity but rather a consequence of gender-blind and misdirected priorities set in agricultural development, economic restructuring and resource management. They criticize the market-oriented conception of food security in global food governance – that is the primary focus at the availability of and access to food. Emphasizing the deeper structural causes of hunger and malnutrition, feminist scholars shift their attention to alternative concepts and strategies in food governance (i.e. food sovereignty, right to adequate food, gender mainstreaming) which address questions of power asymmetries in agriculture and food systems.
This panel focuses at the intensified efforts in the field of global food governance to solve the problem of food insecurity. On a political-institutional level, the panel seeks to scrutinize shifts in policy priorities in global food governance from a feminist perspective. To what extent have alternative concepts and approaches to food security been considered in global food governance after the food crisis? How attentive are these approaches to gender power relations in agricultural development? To what extent have these alternative approaches altered the parameters of global food governance in regard to gender equality? What is the state of gender mainstreaming in the field of global food governance? On a socio-economic level, the panel aims at assessing the influence of international agricultural, environmental and/or trade policies on local farming structures and food systems. How do shifts in food governance and transformations in agricultural development affect the gender division of labor in agricultural production, change women’s participation in agricultural value chains and alter gendered patterns of access to and control over resources?
We invite to send paper proposals (200 words) related to any of the above questions until 23rd of May 2014 to
guelay.caglar (a) gender.hu-berlin.de and elisabeth.pruegl (a )graduateinstitute.ch