ABSTRACT
This chapter shows a noticeable shift in conventional agricultural geography towards discussion of the capitalist character of land use and primary processing and the political economy of the modern food and fibre system. Several researchers have rewritten the conventional conceptual agenda to the point where capitalist production processes are begging detailed study. The chapter deals with political-economy theory about capitalist production and food and fibre production under capitalism, provides a basis for situating strands of conventional research and taking futher the conceptual issues identified by Smith, Troughton and Wallace. A notable feature of the era of monopoly capitalism was the major role played by the state, both a provider of credit and as a regulator of food and fibre production. It is suggested that post-1945 through to the 1970s the articulation of macroprocess was distinctive and it is against this architecture of constraints that developments in food and fibre production must be seen.
