Course number

G-ECON31 6A595 LE43 G-ECON31 6A595 LE82

Course title
Instructor's(and course International Political Economy of Agriculture name, job title,title inInternational Political Economy of Agriculture and departmentof affiliation
English)Target year

1st year students or above Number of credits 2

Days and periodsMon.3,4 隔週開講Class style

LectureGraduate School of Economics
Professor,HISANO SHUJI

Year/semesters 2023/Second semester

Language of instruction English[Overview and purpose of the course]This course provides a comprehensive and critical view on the development and current state-of-affairs ofagriculture and food governance at the global, national, and local levels, by referring to various theoreticalframeworks and concepts of international political economy and agri-food sociology and geography,
especially with a focus on the unequal power relations between various actors. We will discuss issues andprospects of agriculture and food governance from the perspectives of sustainable development andfood sovereignty .
In the course in 2021, our focus was on the concept of "food as a commons" that has re-emerged as atransformative narrative and framing to challenge the mainstream paradigm of food as a commodity, tobroaden our imagination to explore and practice alternative paradigm of food and food systems.
In the course in 2022, we read the Handbook of Critical Agrarian Studies together to learn origins, concepts
and methodologies of critical agrarian studies, a field of research that unites scholars from various disciplines
concerned with understanding the process of agrarian change: the processes, implications, and limitations ofpervasive capitalist penetration into the agricultural sector and rural livelihoods and landscapes. In each 2period class, we picked up three to four chapters of the Handbook that consists of 72 chapters in total.
In this semester, we will turn our eyes to urban food governance as a space and means of transforming foodsystems globally as well as locally/regionally. Although it is in rural areas where our food is mainly produced,
scholarly and policy attention is gradually drawn to urban and city regions as an important arena for making
and implementing food policy. Behind this shifting attention, there is a growing recognition of themultifunctional and multidimensional nature of food and its potential to tackle diverse policy issues faced bycontemporary urban society, including health and social welfare, environment and urban planning, local
economy and employment, poverty and social inclusion, education and community building, and so on. We
will learn histories, concepts, and practices of urban food governance through case studies of plans, policies,
and programmes implemented in different contexts.

[Course objectives]
Through this course, students will acquire critical and interdisciplinary approaches to social, economic,
political, cultural, and environmental issues surrounding agriculture and food, and gain insight into
fundamental social science issues such as structure and agency , commodification and alienation ,and power of discourse .

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International Political Economy of Agriculture (2)[Course schedule and contents]
Every year, textbooks used in this course are different, but we use either introductory books with highinternational recognition for textbooks so that even beginners of agri-food studies or international political
economy and sociology can learn effectively, or handbook-style books with theoretically and conceptually
elaborated introduction chapter and well-structured chapters that cover most of important issues and problems
and include rich case studies. In the past years, we read the following books together:[2019] Jason Konefal & Maki Hatanaka, eds., Twenty Lessons in the Sociology of Food and Agriculture,
Oxford UP, 2019.
[2020] Jessica Duncan, Michael Carolan & Johannes S.C. Wiskerke, eds., Routledge Handbook ofSustainable and Regenerative Food Systems, Routledge, 2020.
[2021] Jose Louis Vivero-Pol, Tomaso Ferrando, Olivier De Schutter & Ugo Mattei, eds., Routledge
Handbook of Food as a Commons, Routledge, 2018.
[2022] H. Akram-Lodhi, Kristina Dietz, Bettina Engels and Ben M. McKay, eds., Handbook of CriticalAgrarian Studies, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021.
In this semester, we will read a book or two on the above-mentioned topic. Apart from that, we will use thefollowing handbook as a reference:
Ana Moragues-Faus, Jill K. Clark, Jane Battersby, Anna Davies (2023) Routledge Handbook of Urban Food
Governance, Routledge. *E-book will be available on the Kyoto University library system (KULINE).
Week 1 (2 Oct): Guidance and Introduction | 1. Towards Urban Food Governance for More Sustainable andJust Futures
Week 2-3 (16 Oct): 5. Social Practice Theories and Urban Food Governance: From Problem Framing toDesigning Collaborative Change Initiatives / 6. Feminist Ethics of care in Urban Food Governance /Week 4-5 (30 Oct): 7. Urban Food Democracy / 8. Governing and Commoning Activities around Urban FoodCommons
Week 6-7 (13 Nov): 9. Justice, Race and Urban Food Governance / 10. Conceptualisations of Urban FoodGovernanceWeek 8-9 (27 Nov): 11. Exploring Urban Foodscapes via Feminist Political Ecology / 12. Innovation Theoryand Urban Food Governance: Transition Thinking, Social Innovation and Transformative Change
Week 10-11 (11 Dec): 13. Relationships between Food Policy Councils and Government in the United States /19. The Formal and Informal Governance of Urban Food Waste in Cities: Case Studies in the United Statesand Indonesia
Week 12-13 (25 Dec): 22. The Role of the Private Sector in Urban Food Governance / 25. The City Region
Food System: Broadening Space for Urban GovernanceWeek 14-15 (15 Jan): 26. International Agendas and Urban Food Systems Governance: Informing,Integrating and Operationalizing the SDGs / 27. The Role of Transnational City Food Networks inSupporting Urban Food Transformation[Course requirements]
No prerequisite knowledge or skill required other than English language ability sufficient to interact activelyin class.
[Evaluation methods and policy]
Grading will be carried out on a basis of active class participation (70%) and assignment presentation/report(30%).
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International Political Economy of Agriculture (3)[Textbooks]
Ana Moragues-Faus, Jill K. Clark, Jane Battersby, Anna Davies 『Routledge Handbook of Urban FoodGovernance』（Routledge, 2023）ISBN:9781003055907
Reading materials will be made available in advance through the course mailing list and/or a cloud system.
[References, etc.]（Reference books）
Jason Konefal and Maki Hatanaka eds. 『Twenty Lessons in the Sociology of Food and Agriculture』（Oxford UP, 2019）ISBN:9780190662127
Jessica Duncan, Michael Carolan & Johannes S.C. Wiskerke, eds. 『Routledge Handbook of Sustainable andRegenerative Food Systems』（Routledge, 2020）
Jose Louis Vivero-Pol, Tomaso Ferrando, Olivier De Schutter & Ugo Mattei, eds. 『Routledge Handbook ofFood as a Commons』（Routledge, 2018）
H. Akram-Lodhi, Kristina Dietz, Bettina Engels and Ben M. McKay, eds. 『Handbook of Critical AgrarianStudies』（Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021）
Recommended reading materials will be made available in advance as well as in class through the course
mailing list and/or a cloud system.
[Study outside of class (preparation and review)]
Students are required to read the assigned articles and book chapters for each class as well as other relevant
reading materials so that they will be able to actively participate in discussions.
（Other information (office hours, etc.)）
Office hours are by appointment. Please e-mail at hisano@econ.kyoto-u.ac.jp for an appointment.
*Please visit KULASIS to find out about office hours.