Book Review: General Politics: Food
| DOI | 10.1111/1478-9302.12016_67 |
| Published date | 01 May 2013 |
| Author | Nick James |
| Date | 01 May 2013 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
private sector in welfare – all related phenomena to
some extent. The view that globalisation does not
imply a ‘race to the bottom’in terms of social expendi-
ture is proposed in several chapters. Many of the con-
tributors endorse Paul Pierson’s (1994) argument that
cutting programmes and spending is more difficult than
expanding them, that the welfare state has proved to be
remarkably resilient and has in many respects success-
fully withstood the supposed neo-liberal assault.
The Handbook exhibits a very high standard in terms
of production values. It is, given its price, a work for
libraries rather than individual bookshelves, but as a
work of reference it will be of great value for many
years.
Edwin Griggs
(University of Birmingham)
The Routledge Handbook of Internet Politics by
Andrew Chadwick and Philip N. Howard (eds).
Abingdon: Routledge, 2010. 512pp.,£27.99, ISBN 978
0 415 78058 2
For this addition to the Routledge ‘Handbook’ series,
Chadwick and Howard have assembled a total of 31
contributions on a wide array of topics within the
research on internet politics and policy.Their authors
came to this topic from a variety of backgrounds, from
political theory to, among others, international rela-
tions, political economy and cultural politics. One of
the most interesting things about this book is how
differently the contributors describe and explain the
changes brought about by the internet.Their methods
are equally diverse, including qualitative, quantitative
and comparative research. The book is held together
well by its leading question: what are the implications
of the internet for the political life of voters and can-
didates, and the inner and outer workings of political
parties, interest groups, social movements, parliaments,
governments and other political actors?
The book is divided into four parts: ‘Institutions’,
‘Behaviour’, ‘Identities’ and ‘Law and Policy’. Within
these parts, the contributors identify the positive,nega-
tive and unexpected effects of the internet. In a positive
way, the internet has multiplied the number of people
able to publish and receive information on politics and
discuss political events as well as validate statements by
politicians and parties. Negative implications include a
digital divide based less on access than on digital skills,
excluding those unable to use the internet in a politi-
cally meaningful way. Other negative effects include
attempts by states to filter online content in order to
keep unwanted information from their citizens.Among
the unexpected changes is the similarity between the
internet strategies of political candidates, governments,
parties, news media and non-governmental groups in
different countries, despite their otherwise diverse
political environment.
The Routledge Handbook of Internet Politics is a timely
contribution since, as the editors write in the introduc-
tion, in the course of the last fifteen years, the ‘politics
of the internet has entered the social science main-
stream’ (p. 1).The book is not attempting to cover all
facets of internet research or reach conclusions on the
topic. Given the rapid empirical and theoretical devel-
opment of this new field, this would be a hard goal to
achieve for any longer than a few months. Despite its
original publication as the first handbook of its kind in
2009, its findings remain far from outdated. Its delib-
erative and inclusive approach to the topic makes it
recommended reading for anybody interested in the
broad range of topics covered.
Johannes Fritz
(University of Erlangen-Nuremberg)
Food by Jennifer Clapp. Cambridge: Polity Press,
2012. 218pp., £12.99, ISBN 978 0 7456 4936 8
This book is not about ‘food’ as such but more about
the industry that supplies and controls food at a global
level. Importantly,this book helps to explain the recent
‘food riots’. Jennifer Clapp refers to this industry as the
‘middle space’ between contexts where food is grown
and when it reaches the consumer. She analyses the
increasing industrial control over the food industry and
how this started early in the twentieth century, and
significantly how this has mounted to astonishing levels
since the 1990s. The important changes include the
rapid growth of agricultural and food trade, the con-
tinued technological developments within food pro-
duction and farming, the unequal trade rules, the
control amassed by a few transnational corporations
(TNCs) and the highly problematic nexus of financiali-
sation,‘land g rabs’ and biofuel investments.The analysis
places food in the context of the unfolding global
economy, and while changes fit with the well-known
narratives relating to globalisation, unfair trading rules
268 GENERAL POLITICS
© 2013 TheAuthors. Political Studies Review © 2013 Political Studies Association
Political Studies Review: 2013, 11(2)
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