Overview

From fragile, corporate-controlled supply chains breaking down, to millions of already hyper-exploited farmworkers risking their lives in the fields without basic personal protective equipment, the COVID-19 pandemic made it painfully obvious that US agriculture does not work. Agrarian Crisis in the United States: Pathways for Reform situates the many food system problems that the COVID-19 pandemic laid bare in historical context across four key policy areas, namely, in land, labor, markets, and the environment. In applying and building from the work of Jürgen Habermas, Agrarian Crisis in the United States highlights how deep-seated problems concerning systemic racism, economic inequality, and political legitimacy endanger the US food and farm system’s future. Besides analyzing crises, it presents solutions that would make agriculture in the United States more just and resilient through the implementation of certain communication and policy strategies. Its original argument, as well as a novel set of remedies, will appeal to scholars and activists with interests in agrarian studies, environmental policy, and social movements.

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9781032360553

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Reviews

‘U.S. agriculture is in crisis: punitive neoliberal policies that hurt farmers, workers and residents; partisan divides that stymie cooperation; geographical and rural/urban differences; and centuries of genocide of Indigenous populations to acquire land, and enduring racism all contribute. Pahnke analyzes crises in land, labor, market and environmental policy and practice, drawing from Habermas’s concepts of crisis and contradiction. But more than analysis of the issues, he offers proposals grounded in a thorough historical perspective of what worked in the past to overcome crises, salted with his deep understanding of how the current context requires new approaches. Again taking the lead from Habermas, Pahnke places policy proposals within communication strategy and social movement mobilization. This is a timely and important book for figuring out how we will move beyond crises to solutions for some of the most intransigent problems in U.S. agriculture.’ - Molly D. Anderson, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Food Studies, Middlebury College, USA ‘In plain, clear language, this timely book lays out the chronic economic, ecological, cultural, and political contradictions plaguing U.S. agriculture and farm policy. Drawing on scholarly, community-based, and personal agricultural expertise, Pahnke shows how and why neoliberalized farming has become an occupation that cannot sustain itself, and that degrades land, labor, and rural communities in its wake. Yet, this lucid critical analysis of the racial capitalism of agrarian crisis culminates in smart hope—in such interventions as anti-trust, land banks, farmworker immigration reform, regenerative production, and crucially: supply management and price floors for diverse farmers. This integrative book serves as an excellent, nuanced resource for anyone concerned with food and agriculture at large.’ - Garret Graddy-Lovelace, Provost Associate Professor, School of International Service, American University, DC, USA

Author Information

Anthony Pahnke is Associate Professor of International Relations at San Francisco State University. Raised on a dairy farm in Eastern Wisconsin, he has remained active with small-scale farmer and farmworker groups for over 12 years. His research has appeared in journals such as New Political Science, International Studies Review, and Rethinking Marxism. He is also the author of Brazil's Long Revolution: Radical Achievements of the Landless Workers Movement (2018). His popular writing on agriculture, immigration, and international politics has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The Progressive, and The Hill, among other print and online publications.

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