Sugar: Refined Power in a Global Regime (Hardcover)

Sugar is a commodity that continues to hit the headlines. Whether the debate is over ongoing protectionism, volatile world prices, poor labour standards, or bio fuel production, the policies that surround sugar are heavily contested. Drawing on critical political economy and institutional theory, this book develops a novel framework by which the power underpinning these policies can be better understood and their distributive outcomes brought to the forefront of analysis.
Providing a truly global overview of the sugar industry, the book considers such issues such as the impact of the World Trade Organization on regulation, the patterns of concentration and diversification among sugar processors, and the transition to high-sugar diets in Asia. Importantly, these issues are also discussed in relation to the acts of resistance, submission and co-option among the rural poor. In doing so, this study sheds light not only on the changing nature of production in sugar, but also on the causes and consequences of globalization in the agri-food sector more generally.