ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses current debates on the value and benefits of geographical indications (GIs) as an alternative to the neoliberal food regime. In the literature, the debate revolves around differences in legislation but neglects three dimensions of GIs: (1) sociocultural dynamics, (2) power relations and (3) the materiality embedded in the local ecology. This chapter proposes this three-dimensional analysis to generate a comparison between established and emerging GI systems, using the European Union and Indonesian cases respectively. The former relies on multi-niche production and a structured legal, bureaucratic and cultural apparatus that ensure GI procedures; the latter has so far relied on mass commodities and domestic market creations, but it is still developing the necessary organization. We frame the development of GIs in the two regions within a particular pathway, from non-homogenous relations based on ecological and cultural embeddedness toward commodification and formal institutionalizations. This framework offers ways to deeply understand the sociocultural constructions of GIs in each region, the way power is exerted along the process and the different ecological realities that shape the materiality of their GIs.
