ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we analyse the manner in which the food crisis discussed in Chapter 1 makes itself manifest in patterns of governance. More specifi - cally, we examine the nature of state failures in the management of food safety, and how, as a result, the state at both a national and European level has been searching for credibility to reassert its authority and legitimacy. At the European level, the networks that operate in the area of food safety and that bring together scientifi c communities, policy actors, economic interests, NGOs and policy makers raise an important question about the extent to which these networks complement or compete with traditional forms of state authority.
