International Obstacles to Rural Development: How Neoliberal Policies Constrain Competitive Markets and Sustainable Agriculture

This paper analyses key changes to international agriculture during the neoliberal period (roughly from the 1980s until today), including structural adjustment, agricultural trade policies, corporate control, and intellectual property rights (IPRs), from two different theoretical perspectives: marke...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inRevue canadienne d'études du développement Vol. 27; no. 1; pp. 9 - 24
Main Author Buckland, Jerry
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Taylor & Francis Group 01.01.2006
Canadian Association for the Study of International Development
Subjects
Agricultural policy
Agriculture
Economic growth
Free markets
International
Rural development
Sustainable development
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Summary:This paper analyses key changes to international agriculture during the neoliberal period (roughly from the 1980s until today), including structural adjustment, agricultural trade policies, corporate control, and intellectual property rights (IPRs), from two different theoretical perspectives: market-driven economic growth (similar to neoclassical economics) and sustainable agriculture. It first examines what market-driven economic growth and sustainable agriculture say about the ideal structure of the agricultural economy. Next, the paper explores whether the identified changes to international agriculture are consistent with these theories. It finds that there is surprising consistency between the two theories' critiques of the key changes associated with the neoliberal period.
ISSN:0225-5189
2158-9100
DOI:10.1080/02255189.2006.9669117