State Capitalism under Neoliberalism: The Case of Agriculture and Food in Brazil

(Hardback)

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State Capitalism under Neoliberalism analyzes state capitalism in agri-food under neoliberalism and investigates state-sponsored actions designed to counter the negative consequences of the implementation of free-market policies and strategies. In particular, it probes efforts of the Brazilian State to respond to the neoliberalization and corporatization of agriculture and food. Between 2003 and 2016, the left leaning Workers Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores) governed Brazil, which claimed to support landless peasants, family farming, food sovereignty, and state regulation of the unwanted consequences of the evolution of free market capitalism. The contributors analyze these actions of the Brazilian state, stressing its accomplishments and limits, and argue that the emancipatory actions of the Brazilian state engendered a complex and contradictory set of results which show that state capitalism is a problematic solution to the problems generated by the global neoliberal regime.

Reviews

How has neoliberal globalization altered the contours of Brazils agri-food industries According to the contributors of this well-grounded and illuminating collection, neoliberalism has strengthened the hand of corporate capital, created larger farms, fostered an unsustainable form of productivist agriculture, and has curtailed the states ability to address the needs of family farmers, peasant producers, and minorities who strive to make a living from the land. This book is a valuable resource for scholarsincluding sociologists, geographers, political economists, and policy analystsseeking a conceptually rich understanding of agri-food transformations in contemporary Brazil. -- Geoffrey Lawrence, University of Queensland

Author Bio

Alessandro Bonanno is Texas State University System Regents Professor and distinguished professor of sociology at Sam Houston State University. Josefa Salete Barbosa Cavalcanti is professor in the Department of Sociology and the Post-Graduation Program in sociology at the Federal University of Pernambuco.