Rights statement: This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Garvey, B., Tyfield, D. and de Mello, L. F. (2015), ‘Meet the New Boss … Same as the Old boss?’ Technology, toil and tension in the agrofuel frontier. New Technology, Work and Employment, 30: 79–94. doi: 10.1111/ntwe.12048 which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ntwe.12048/abstract This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.
Accepted author manuscript, 506 KB, PDF document
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Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - ‘Meet the new boss … same as the old boss?’
T2 - technology, toil and tension in the agrofuel frontier
AU - Garvey, Brian
AU - Tyfield, David
AU - De Mello, Leonardo Freire
N1 - This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Garvey, B., Tyfield, D. and de Mello, L. F. (2015), ‘Meet the New Boss … Same as the Old boss?’ Technology, toil and tension in the agrofuel frontier. New Technology, Work and Employment, 30: 79–94. doi: 10.1111/ntwe.12048 which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ntwe.12048/abstract This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.
PY - 2015/7
Y1 - 2015/7
N2 - Agrofuels are increasingly sourced and sold as a socially and environmentally beneficial solution to oil dependence. The promotion of sugar-derived ethanol as a substitute for petroleum has thus been key to state development and international trade policies by Brazil and the European Union, respectively, and subsequent investment by leading energy and food transnational corporations has transformed socio-spatial relations in the new sites of production. Brazilian rural worker testimonies, however, point to large-scale labour exclusion rather than reform and a deepening, rather than disruption, of historic power inequalities in the sector. Labour contestation challenges a converging institutional discourse of responsible technological innovation and social upgrading associated with emerging commodity chains and the ‘green’ economy. Although corporate and statutory response has been market-orientated certification and ‘more technology’ the idea of the ‘techno-institutional fix’ provides a power relation-attentive analysis that invites the further exploration of socially committed alternatives to food and energy production.
AB - Agrofuels are increasingly sourced and sold as a socially and environmentally beneficial solution to oil dependence. The promotion of sugar-derived ethanol as a substitute for petroleum has thus been key to state development and international trade policies by Brazil and the European Union, respectively, and subsequent investment by leading energy and food transnational corporations has transformed socio-spatial relations in the new sites of production. Brazilian rural worker testimonies, however, point to large-scale labour exclusion rather than reform and a deepening, rather than disruption, of historic power inequalities in the sector. Labour contestation challenges a converging institutional discourse of responsible technological innovation and social upgrading associated with emerging commodity chains and the ‘green’ economy. Although corporate and statutory response has been market-orientated certification and ‘more technology’ the idea of the ‘techno-institutional fix’ provides a power relation-attentive analysis that invites the further exploration of socially committed alternatives to food and energy production.
KW - labour
KW - agroenergy
KW - Brazil
KW - technology
KW - rural
KW - commodity chains
U2 - 10.1111/ntwe.12048
DO - 10.1111/ntwe.12048
M3 - Journal article
VL - 30
SP - 79
EP - 94
JO - New Technology, Work and Employment
JF - New Technology, Work and Employment
SN - 0268-1072
IS - 2
ER -