ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book adopts a critical neo-Marxist and Gramsican international political economy theoretical approach to analyse the social, political-economic and ecological ills of the agri-food system in Thailand. It provides a critical political-economic study of the local-to-global interconnections and structural problems of the current agri-food system, using a case study of Thailand. The book explores the possibilities that the current agri-food system can be transformed towards more socially and ecologically sustainable paths. It discusses structural problems of the global corporate agri-food system based on studies from many countries. The book also provides a comprehensive overview of counter-hegemony and co-optation of oppositions in the agri-food system in Thailand which serve as a foundation for the study of the sustainable agriculture movement's (SAM) and the land reform movement's (LRM). It elaborates on the SAM's counter-hegemonic ideas and discourses, production–distribution practices, and governance structures.