AGRICULTURAL GEOGRAPHY AND THE POLITICAL-ECONOMY APPROACH - A REVIEW

In this paper, we review recent developments in political economy appr oaches to agricultural geography. During the last decade, the main are as of debate have shifted from materialist concerns about uneven devel opment, transformation of the family farm, and the role of the state t o the related questions of consumption and social nature. We emphasize the common challenges faced by economic geographers addressing the em beddedness of economic relations in social, political, and cultural pr actices, including the need for theoretical approaches which examine t he differential constitution of ''structural'' processes, their articu lation in localities, and the role of actors. To illustrate, we recoun t recent changes in British farming that demonstrate the continuous re positioning of agriculture within restructured rural spaces and an inc reasingly integrated, corporate agro-food chain. From these changes ne w themes emerge. These include those of nature, specifically relations between ''natural'' and ''social'' processes, contested meanings of t he natural world, and the environmental regulation of agriculture, and the growing need to address aspects of consumption, ranging from food safety to the delivery of amenity, landscape, and ecological ''improv ements.''