Flexible for whom? Flex crops, crises, fixes and the politics of exchanging use values in US corn production
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2157154 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sean Gillon (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 43 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 117-139 |
| Publication date | 2016-01-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Peasant Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0306-6150 • E-ISSN: 1743-9361 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/03066150.2014.996555 |
| OpenAlex | W2262928366 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 19 |
| References cited | 53 |
Flexible allocation of crops among food and non-food uses is a key driver of global agri-food system change. Focusing on United States corn production, I explore the dynamics of flex crops, scrutinizing agri-industrial relationships and the distribution of agri-food system value and control. I situate crop flexing as exchanging use value, as opposed to converting use into exchange value without altering the commodity's use. Asking 'Flexible for whom?' in the context of agri-food system crises, I find: (1) flex crops exacerbate contradictory food security and over supply crises, and that the distribution of flexibility and benefit in the agri-food system they provide depends on the organization of labor; (2) crises of accumulation tie flex crops to agri-food system financialization, which subordinates use to exchange value, obfuscating their relationship and distancing agricultural products and uses from their basis in nature and labor; and (3) debates over US corn flexing illustrate the utility of focusing on power and politics in crop flexing decisions and demonstrate US corn flexing to be a fix for climate and accumulation crises. Findings suggest that examining the distribution of value and control and the positions of labor and nature in the agri-food system may be productive for global flex crop research and advocacy in the future
Agricultural economics · Agriculture · Business · Commodity · Context (archaeology · Distribution (mathematics · Economics · Exchange value · Financialization · Flexibility (engineering · Food security · Food systems · Geography · Market economy · Microeconomics · Natural resource economics · Production (economics · Value (mathematics · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development · Global trade, sustainability, and social impact · Organic Food and Agriculture
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| Unique citing works | 19 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,9 |
| Citation span | 2016 - 2026 (11) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 19 |