Food systems, transformation, and politics Examining nexus relations to advance a new research agenda
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Published
08-11-2025
Damian Maye
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4459-6630
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8949-186X
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7247-3681
Abstract
This paper argues agri-food scholars need to engage more critically with conceptualisations of food systems and politics of transformation, given current debates about food system sustainability, climate change, planetary boundaries, resilience and well-being, alongside new politics, social movements and forms of protest that disrupt established ways of deliberating, agreeing and enacting social change. As food systems exceed established ‘thresholds’, transformative change is needed. However, de- and re-politicisation, oscillating from post-political to new modes of hyper-politics, challenge not only food system knowledge production, but also the socio-material actions needed to enact food system transformation pathways at scale. Against this context, the paper summarises the contribution the Special Section makes to food system transformation politics, highlighting a ‘politics of knowledge’, ‘politics of transformation’ and ‘politics of feeling’ nexus of relations. We conclude by calling for further research on food-politics relations given their role in determining whether we achieve or not the food system changes necessary for the health of people and the planet.
How to Cite
Maye, D. (2025) “Food systems, transformation, and politics: Examining nexus relations to advance a new research agenda”, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 31(1), pp. 113–122. doi:10.48416/ijsaf.v31i1.793.
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Keywords
Food systems, Transformation, Politics, Knowledge, Feeling, Nexus relations
References
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Anderson, B. and Secor, A.J. (2025) The Politics of Feeling: Populism, Progressivism, Liberalism. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Arnold, N., Brunori, G., Dessein, J., Galli, F., Ghosh, R., Loconto, A.M. and Maye, D. (2022) ‘Governing food futures: Towards a ‘responsibility turn’ in food and agriculture’, Journal of Rural Studies, 89, pp. 82–86. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.11.017.
Arnold, N. and Soppe, B. (2025) ‘Heating Up, Cooling Down: The Moralisation of Markets through Devices and Their Unintended Consequences’, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 31(1), pp. 121–140. Available at: https://doi.org/10.48416/g8z56s69.
Béné, C., Oosterveer, P., Lamotte, L., Brouwer, I.D., de Haan, S., Prager, S.D., Talsma, E.F. and Khoury, C.K. (2019) ‘When food systems meet sustainability – Current narratives and implications for actions’, World Development, 113, pp. 116–130. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.08.011.
Brock, S. (2023) ‘What is a food system? Exploring enactments of the food system multiple’, Agriculture and Human Values, 40(3), pp. 799–813. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-023-10457-z.
Brunori, G., Arcuri, S. and Galli, F. (2025) ‘How to transform food systems? Consensus, crisis, and (de)politicization in the CAP reform policy process’, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, in press.
Brunori, G., Avermaete, T., Bartolini, F., Brzezina, N., Marsden, T., Mathijs, E., Moragues-Faus, A. and Sonnino, R. (2020) ‘Unpacking Food Systems’, in Brunori, G. and Grando, S. (eds) Innovation for Sustainability. Bingley: Emerald Publishing Limited, pp. 39–67. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1057-192220200000025005.
Callon, M., Millo, Y. and Muniesa, F. (eds) (2007) Market Devices. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Canfield, M., Anderson, M.D. and Howard, P. (2021) ‘UN Food Systems Summit 2021: Dismantling Democracy and Resetting Corporate Control of Food Systems’, Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 5. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2021.661552.
Canfield, M.C., Duncan, J. and Claeys, P. (2021) ‘Reconfiguring Food Systems Governance: The UNFSS and the Battle Over Authority and Legitimacy’, Development, 64(3), pp. 181–191. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41301-021-00312-1.
Chinaglia, S. and Duncun, J. (2025) ‘Localised experimentalist governance: A framework for understanding the political dimensions of Alternative Food Networks’, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 31(1), pp. 181–196. Available at: https://doi.org/10.48416/ijsaf.v31i1.652.
Crivits, M., Tessier, L., De Pue, D. and Messely, L. (2025) ‘Nitrogen policy in Flanders: who unchains a locked-up debate?’, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, in press.
Ericksen, P.J., Ingram, J. and Liverman, D. (2009) ‘Editorial. Food security and global environmental change: emerging challenges’, Environmental Science & Policy, 12, pp. 373–377.
FAO (2025) Transforming food and agriculture through a systems approach. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Available at: https://www.fao.org/ (Accessed: 24 October 2025).
Frick, R., Roglic, M., Dentoni, D. and Home, R. (2025) ‘Gaining a common understanding of transformation pathways in agri-food: Shared learning among partners of a Horizon Europe project’, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 31(1), pp. 161–180. Available at: https://doi.org/10.48416/ijsaf.v31i1.647.
Geels, F. and Schot, J. (2007) ‘Typology of sociotechnical transition pathways’, Research Policy, 36, pp. 399–417.
Gerbaudo, P. (2021) The Great Recoil: Politics After Populism and Pandemic. London: Verso Books.
Hasnain, S. and Hill, G. (2025) ‘A Case for Clarity: Defining Food System Drivers, Outcomes, and Feedbacks’, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, in press.
HLPE (2025) Building Resilient Food Systems. Rome: High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition. Available at: https://www.fao.org/cfs/cfs-hlpe (Accessed: 24 October 2025).
Holloway, L., Goodman, M., Maye, D., Kneafsey, M., Sexton, A. and Moragues-Faus, A. (2025) ‘Food and Society: Introduction’, in Holloway, L., Goodman, M., Maye, D., Kneafsey, M., Sexton, A. and Moragues-Faus, A. (eds) Encyclopaedia of Food and Society. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. xiv–xviii.
Jäger, A. (2024) ‘Hyperpolitics in America’, New Left Review, 149. Available at: https://doi.org/10.64590/f5k.
Kubin, E. and von Sikorski, C. (2021) ‘The Role of (Social) Media in Political Polarization: A Systematic Review’, Annals of the International Communication Association, 45(3), pp. 188–206. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.2021.1976070.
Lamine, C., Palm, J., Tuscano, M., Schmitt, C., Jenatton, M. and Marsden, T. (2025) ‘Combining political ecology and pragmatist sociology to repoliticise agrifood systems’ transformations at the territorial scale’, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 31(1), pp. 197–214. Available at: https://doi.org/10.48416/ijsaf.v24i3.676.
Mangnus, E. and Candel, J. (2025) ‘Food securitization and the unmaking of European food policy reform’, Nature Food, 6(10), pp. 910–912. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-025-01244-6.
Markusen, A. (1999) ‘Fuzzy Concepts, Scanty Evidence, Policy Distance: The Case for Rigour and Policy Relevance in Critical Regional Studies’, Regional Studies, 33(9), pp. 869–884. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/00343409950075506.
Marsden, T., Lamine, C. and Schneider, S. (2020) A Research Agenda for Global Rural Development. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Maye, D. (2025) ‘Food and power in the making: the double movement and new geographies of food’, Die Erde, Journal of the Geographical Society of Berlin, in press.
Maye, D. and Duncan, J. (2017) ‘Understanding sustainable food system transitions: practice, assessment and governance’, Sociologia Ruralis, 57(3), pp. 267–273.
Maye, D., Helliwell, R. and Morris, C. (2025) ‘Mobilising the food system concept: Unpacking debates and applications’, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 31(1), pp. 141–160. Available at: https://doi.org/10.48416/zq0q8s54.
Maye, D. and Kirwan, J. (2013) ‘Food security: A fractured consensus’, Journal of Rural Studies, 29(1), pp. 1–6. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2012.12.001.
Mouffe, C. (2005) On the Political. Abingdon: Routledge.
Mouffe, C. (2013) Agnostics: Thinking the world politically. London: Verso Books.
Rockström, J., Thilsted, S.H., Willett, W.C., Gordon, L.J., Herrero, M., Hicks, C.C., Mason-D'Croz, D., Rao, N., Springmann, M., Wright, E.C., Agustina, R., Bajaj, S., Bunge, A.C., Carducci, B., Conti, C., Covic, N., Fanzo, J., Forouhi, N.G., Gibson, M.F., Gu, X., Kebreab, E., Kremen, C., Laila, A., Laxminarayan, R., Marteau, T.M., Monteiro, C.A., Norberg, A., Njuki, J., Oliveira, T.D., Pan, W.-H., Rivera, J.A., Robinson, J.P.W., Sundiang, M., te Wierik, S., van Vuuren, D.P., Vermeulen, S., Webb, P., Alqodmani, L., Ambikapathi, R., Barnhill, A., Baudish, I., Beier, F., Beillouin, D., Beusen, A.H.W., Breier, J., Chemarin, C., Chepeliev, M., Clapp, J., de Vries, W., Pérez-Domínguez, I., Estrada-Carmona, N., Gerten, D., Golden, C.D., Jones, S.K., Jørgensen, P.S., Kozicka, M., Lotze-Campen, H., Maggi, F., Marzi, E., Mishra, A., Orduna-Cabrera, F., Popp, A., Schulte-Uebbing, L., Stehfest, E., Tang, F.H.M., Tsuchiya, K., Van Zanten, H.H.E., van Zeist, W.-J., Zhao, X. and DeClerck, F. (2025) ‘The EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy, sustainable, and just food systems’, The Lancet, 406(10512), pp. 1625–1700. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(25)01201-2.
Sage, C. (2022) ‘Introduction: A Research Agenda for Food Systems’, in Sage, C. (ed.) A Research Agenda for Food Systems. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 3–37.
Swyngedouw, E. (2009) ‘The Antinomies of the Postpolitical City: In Search of a Democratic Politics of Environmental Production’, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 33(3), pp. 601–620. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2427.2009.00859.x.
Wang, C.-M., Maye, D. and Woods, M. (2023) ‘Planetary rural geographies’, Dialogues in Human Geography. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/20438206231191731.
Wenman, M. (2013) ‘Agonism and the problem of antagonism: Chantal Mouffe’, in Wenman, M. (ed.) Agonistic Democracy: Constituent Power in the Era of Globalisation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 180–217. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511777158.009.
Wright, E.O. (2010) Envisaging Real Utopias. London: Verso Books.
Anderson, B. and Secor, A.J. (2025) The Politics of Feeling: Populism, Progressivism, Liberalism. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Arnold, N., Brunori, G., Dessein, J., Galli, F., Ghosh, R., Loconto, A.M. and Maye, D. (2022) ‘Governing food futures: Towards a ‘responsibility turn’ in food and agriculture’, Journal of Rural Studies, 89, pp. 82–86. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.11.017.
Arnold, N. and Soppe, B. (2025) ‘Heating Up, Cooling Down: The Moralisation of Markets through Devices and Their Unintended Consequences’, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 31(1), pp. 121–140. Available at: https://doi.org/10.48416/g8z56s69.
Béné, C., Oosterveer, P., Lamotte, L., Brouwer, I.D., de Haan, S., Prager, S.D., Talsma, E.F. and Khoury, C.K. (2019) ‘When food systems meet sustainability – Current narratives and implications for actions’, World Development, 113, pp. 116–130. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.08.011.
Brock, S. (2023) ‘What is a food system? Exploring enactments of the food system multiple’, Agriculture and Human Values, 40(3), pp. 799–813. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-023-10457-z.
Brunori, G., Arcuri, S. and Galli, F. (2025) ‘How to transform food systems? Consensus, crisis, and (de)politicization in the CAP reform policy process’, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, in press.
Brunori, G., Avermaete, T., Bartolini, F., Brzezina, N., Marsden, T., Mathijs, E., Moragues-Faus, A. and Sonnino, R. (2020) ‘Unpacking Food Systems’, in Brunori, G. and Grando, S. (eds) Innovation for Sustainability. Bingley: Emerald Publishing Limited, pp. 39–67. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/S1057-192220200000025005.
Callon, M., Millo, Y. and Muniesa, F. (eds) (2007) Market Devices. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Canfield, M., Anderson, M.D. and Howard, P. (2021) ‘UN Food Systems Summit 2021: Dismantling Democracy and Resetting Corporate Control of Food Systems’, Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 5. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2021.661552.
Canfield, M.C., Duncan, J. and Claeys, P. (2021) ‘Reconfiguring Food Systems Governance: The UNFSS and the Battle Over Authority and Legitimacy’, Development, 64(3), pp. 181–191. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41301-021-00312-1.
Chinaglia, S. and Duncun, J. (2025) ‘Localised experimentalist governance: A framework for understanding the political dimensions of Alternative Food Networks’, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 31(1), pp. 181–196. Available at: https://doi.org/10.48416/ijsaf.v31i1.652.
Crivits, M., Tessier, L., De Pue, D. and Messely, L. (2025) ‘Nitrogen policy in Flanders: who unchains a locked-up debate?’, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, in press.
Ericksen, P.J., Ingram, J. and Liverman, D. (2009) ‘Editorial. Food security and global environmental change: emerging challenges’, Environmental Science & Policy, 12, pp. 373–377.
FAO (2025) Transforming food and agriculture through a systems approach. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Available at: https://www.fao.org/ (Accessed: 24 October 2025).
Frick, R., Roglic, M., Dentoni, D. and Home, R. (2025) ‘Gaining a common understanding of transformation pathways in agri-food: Shared learning among partners of a Horizon Europe project’, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 31(1), pp. 161–180. Available at: https://doi.org/10.48416/ijsaf.v31i1.647.
Geels, F. and Schot, J. (2007) ‘Typology of sociotechnical transition pathways’, Research Policy, 36, pp. 399–417.
Gerbaudo, P. (2021) The Great Recoil: Politics After Populism and Pandemic. London: Verso Books.
Hasnain, S. and Hill, G. (2025) ‘A Case for Clarity: Defining Food System Drivers, Outcomes, and Feedbacks’, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, in press.
HLPE (2025) Building Resilient Food Systems. Rome: High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition. Available at: https://www.fao.org/cfs/cfs-hlpe (Accessed: 24 October 2025).
Holloway, L., Goodman, M., Maye, D., Kneafsey, M., Sexton, A. and Moragues-Faus, A. (2025) ‘Food and Society: Introduction’, in Holloway, L., Goodman, M., Maye, D., Kneafsey, M., Sexton, A. and Moragues-Faus, A. (eds) Encyclopaedia of Food and Society. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. xiv–xviii.
Jäger, A. (2024) ‘Hyperpolitics in America’, New Left Review, 149. Available at: https://doi.org/10.64590/f5k.
Kubin, E. and von Sikorski, C. (2021) ‘The Role of (Social) Media in Political Polarization: A Systematic Review’, Annals of the International Communication Association, 45(3), pp. 188–206. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.2021.1976070.
Lamine, C., Palm, J., Tuscano, M., Schmitt, C., Jenatton, M. and Marsden, T. (2025) ‘Combining political ecology and pragmatist sociology to repoliticise agrifood systems’ transformations at the territorial scale’, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 31(1), pp. 197–214. Available at: https://doi.org/10.48416/ijsaf.v24i3.676.
Mangnus, E. and Candel, J. (2025) ‘Food securitization and the unmaking of European food policy reform’, Nature Food, 6(10), pp. 910–912. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-025-01244-6.
Markusen, A. (1999) ‘Fuzzy Concepts, Scanty Evidence, Policy Distance: The Case for Rigour and Policy Relevance in Critical Regional Studies’, Regional Studies, 33(9), pp. 869–884. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/00343409950075506.
Marsden, T., Lamine, C. and Schneider, S. (2020) A Research Agenda for Global Rural Development. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Maye, D. (2025) ‘Food and power in the making: the double movement and new geographies of food’, Die Erde, Journal of the Geographical Society of Berlin, in press.
Maye, D. and Duncan, J. (2017) ‘Understanding sustainable food system transitions: practice, assessment and governance’, Sociologia Ruralis, 57(3), pp. 267–273.
Maye, D., Helliwell, R. and Morris, C. (2025) ‘Mobilising the food system concept: Unpacking debates and applications’, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 31(1), pp. 141–160. Available at: https://doi.org/10.48416/zq0q8s54.
Maye, D. and Kirwan, J. (2013) ‘Food security: A fractured consensus’, Journal of Rural Studies, 29(1), pp. 1–6. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2012.12.001.
Mouffe, C. (2005) On the Political. Abingdon: Routledge.
Mouffe, C. (2013) Agnostics: Thinking the world politically. London: Verso Books.
Rockström, J., Thilsted, S.H., Willett, W.C., Gordon, L.J., Herrero, M., Hicks, C.C., Mason-D'Croz, D., Rao, N., Springmann, M., Wright, E.C., Agustina, R., Bajaj, S., Bunge, A.C., Carducci, B., Conti, C., Covic, N., Fanzo, J., Forouhi, N.G., Gibson, M.F., Gu, X., Kebreab, E., Kremen, C., Laila, A., Laxminarayan, R., Marteau, T.M., Monteiro, C.A., Norberg, A., Njuki, J., Oliveira, T.D., Pan, W.-H., Rivera, J.A., Robinson, J.P.W., Sundiang, M., te Wierik, S., van Vuuren, D.P., Vermeulen, S., Webb, P., Alqodmani, L., Ambikapathi, R., Barnhill, A., Baudish, I., Beier, F., Beillouin, D., Beusen, A.H.W., Breier, J., Chemarin, C., Chepeliev, M., Clapp, J., de Vries, W., Pérez-Domínguez, I., Estrada-Carmona, N., Gerten, D., Golden, C.D., Jones, S.K., Jørgensen, P.S., Kozicka, M., Lotze-Campen, H., Maggi, F., Marzi, E., Mishra, A., Orduna-Cabrera, F., Popp, A., Schulte-Uebbing, L., Stehfest, E., Tang, F.H.M., Tsuchiya, K., Van Zanten, H.H.E., van Zeist, W.-J., Zhao, X. and DeClerck, F. (2025) ‘The EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy, sustainable, and just food systems’, The Lancet, 406(10512), pp. 1625–1700. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(25)01201-2.
Sage, C. (2022) ‘Introduction: A Research Agenda for Food Systems’, in Sage, C. (ed.) A Research Agenda for Food Systems. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 3–37.
Swyngedouw, E. (2009) ‘The Antinomies of the Postpolitical City: In Search of a Democratic Politics of Environmental Production’, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 33(3), pp. 601–620. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2427.2009.00859.x.
Wang, C.-M., Maye, D. and Woods, M. (2023) ‘Planetary rural geographies’, Dialogues in Human Geography. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/20438206231191731.
Wenman, M. (2013) ‘Agonism and the problem of antagonism: Chantal Mouffe’, in Wenman, M. (ed.) Agonistic Democracy: Constituent Power in the Era of Globalisation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 180–217. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511777158.009.
Wright, E.O. (2010) Envisaging Real Utopias. London: Verso Books.
Issue
Section
Food System Transformation, Politicisation and Depoliticisation
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How to Cite
Maye, D. (2025) “Food systems, transformation, and politics: Examining nexus relations to advance a new research agenda”, The International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, 31(1), pp. 113–122. doi:10.48416/ijsaf.v31i1.793.