Identifying vulnerabilities, exploring opportunities: reconfiguring production, conservation, and consumption in California rice |
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Authors: | Dustin R Mulvaney |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA |
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Abstract: | This paper describes a role for rural sociology in linking agrifood system vulnerabilities to opportunities for encouraging
sustainability and social justice. I argue that the California rice industry is particularly vulnerable for two reasons. First,
a quarter of rice growers’ revenues derive from production-based subsidies that have been recently deemed illegal by the World
Trade Organization. Second, about half of California’s rice sales depend on volatile export markets, which are susceptible
to periodic market access disruptions. Such vulnerabilities present political opportunities to reconfigure the connection
between production and consumption. By exploring how production subsidies could be transformed into multifunctionality payments,
and investigating new regional markets, rural sociology can contribute to discussions about how to encourage a more sustainable
and socially just California rice industry. My discussion aims to prompt rural sociologists to explore similar questions in
comparable agrifood systems.
Dustin R. Mulvaney
has a Ph.D. from the Department of Environmental Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He continues to work
there as a post-doctoral researcher and College Eight “Environment and Society” Fellow. His research focuses on the politics
of genetic engineering governance, sustainable aquaculture certification, and the social implications of consumption-production
linkages. |
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Keywords: | Agriculture Agrifood activism California Japan Multi-functionality Rice |
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