The Political Economy of Food

Abstract

This issue of the IDS Bulletin examines different perspectives on power in food systems, and the web of actors, relationships, activities, and institutions that play a major role in shaping them. By including articles written from various disciplinary and research orientations, we emphasise that their diversity is important to comprehend the political economy of food systems. The articles in this issue present some of the perspectives that emerged during a workshop on the Political Economy of Food Systems, run jointly by IDS and IPES-Food.

The articles begin with an introduction to how power is analysed from different political economy perspectives before moving on to articles focusing on four key themes: diversity and innovation, the food–health nexus, the politics of consumption, and agroecology and food sovereignty. Two case studies then help to demonstrate applications of power analyses or structural approaches to food and nutrition at national and local levels. A final set of articles considers methodological questions around understanding power in the food system and some of the unresolved questions that emerged from the workshop, which can form an agenda for future work.