Search results for ""Author Geoffrey Lawrence""

This book analyses the gradual shift in the distribution of power in agri-food supply chains, away from the manufacturers of branded food products to the global supermarket chains such as Wal-Mart and Tesco. This transformation has had a profound effect on the food we eat, together with the ways in which food is produced, processed and marketed. The authors assess the causes and consequences of this transformation, and evaluate the impacts along the whole supply chain. The book considers a variety of theoretical and cultural approaches to the analysis of change in the organization and management of the agri-food supply chain, and presents a series of studies focusing upon the effects of changes in Europe, North America and less developed countries. The impacts on farmers and workers, and implications for the environment, are also considered. The contested nature of these changes suggests a number of possible future scenarios for the global agri-food system, which are also analysed and evaluated. This book will be of great interest to postgraduate and undergraduate students in business studies, sociology, politics, geography, and cultural studies. Academic researchers and teachers, and policy makers and researchers in business, government and industry will also find much of interest.

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This book sets out to examine what really is going on in the organic sector socially and politically. In the process, it debunks a number of apparently common-sense beliefs: that organic consumers are wealthy environmental and health extremists; that growth in the industry will inevitably undermine its environmental values; that mainstream media is antagonistic to organics; and that the industry is driven by consumer demand. This book seeks to make a practical contribution to the development of more sustainable food systems by articulating what it takes to get people involved in organics at each stage of the food chain.

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As greater significance is placed on the relationship between people and their environment it is increasingly acknowledged that few environmental problems can be solved without considering the social context in which they arise. But what does it mean to incorporate the 'social' and what types of social sciences are needed? This incisive book critically reviews the theoretical perspectives that underlie social scientific contributions to natural resource management and argues for both a greater social science presence and for conceptual and methodological clarity within the social sciences themselves.The expert contributors explore how new concepts and approaches can contribute positively to natural resource management. They demonstrate how the social sciences can be used as a vehicle to highlight social concerns as well as to foster greater participation, co-operation, and integration among community members, natural resource managers and researchers. Through detailed case studies from Australasia and the Americas, the authors illustrate how different social science perspectives can be utilised. The range and variety of views provide a basis for the evaluation of various and often competing disciplinary paradigms within the social sciences. This book will undoubtedly contribute to a more sophisticated debate about the place of the 'social' in environmental research. It will prove to be of great worth to students and researchers of environmental and social issues, to those involved in environmental decision making and community planning, as well as environmental policymakers and natural resource managers.

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