The ‘First’ or British ‘Liberal’ Food Regime 1840–1870: The ‘Second’ or ‘Imperial’ Food Regime 1870–1930

Abstract

The British ‘Liberal’ or ‘Free Trade’ Food Regime that arose during the middle of the nineteenth century may be said to represent the first capitalist food regime founded on the integration of the imperial states as, for the first time, predominantly capitalist economies. Again, the prime mover in these dynamics is the ‘political’, or social-property, relations (class dynamics) in the hegemonic power, in this case Britain, and the international articulation of these relations with receptive and complementary class interests in other states. This identifies the axial role of class relations, contestation and hegemony, within the context of the state–capital nexus, in the germination, reproduction, and extension, beyond the hegemonic state, of particular capital accumulation regimes, and, within them, food regimes. This framework echoes the claim made by Winders (J Agrar Chang 9(3):315–344, 2009), when he suggests that it is necessary to recognize the centrality of (class) divisions and coalitions within agriculture, as well as the political power of these coalitions, in explaining the emergence of food regimes. He states further, in line with the argument developed here, that the political power and economic interests of segments (i.e., class fractions) of agriculture shape the national policy of each hegemon (the dominant state within the world system), and the national policy (of that hegemon) in turn influences the production, trade, and consumption of agriculture throughout the world economy. He also notes, pointedly, that ‘most analyses of food regimes … understate the fundamental role played by [political] coalitions and conflicts within agriculture’ (Winders, J Agrar Chang 9(3):315–344, 316, 2009).