Republican food sovereignty

Abstract

This article defends a republican understanding of food sovereignty, according to which food sovereignty is the freedom of people to make choices related to food production, distribution and consumption in a non-dominated way, that is, without being subject to the arbitrary or uncontrolled interference of governments, international bodies and multinational corporations. Food sovereignty as non-domination, the article claims, should be guaranteed through the creation of (and the enhancement of existing) international agencies enforcing and monitoring impartial rules concerning food production, distribution and consumption, based on deliberation conducted according to publicly acceptable reasons both within and across states. Crucially, such agencies should be subject to the scrutiny and contestation of both official bodies and social movements. The republican model of food sovereignty, the article concludes, offers a more realistic framework than currently dominant participatory models of food sovereignty for tackling issues of food production, distribution and consumption in contemporary diverse societies.