‘A World Free From Hunger’: Global Imagination and Governance in the Age of Scientific Management

Abstract

Taking the study of food governance beyond the nation‐state, this paper shows how food and agriculture have been globally re‐imagined and ruled 'at a distance' by the mandates of scientific management. The authors explore how, in the early post‐war period, food became mobilized and reassembled across borders in ways that not only met the new demands of international markets but also fed the expansion and authority of international organizations to intervene in food production and consumption 'problems'. Examining this issue through the lens of the FAO, the paper raises issues regarding current scientific approaches to food and agriculture as forms of governance and suggests further study into the power of global public institutions to re‐imagine food and agriculture beyond the confines of particular nation‐states.