Meet the new boss ... same as the old boss? : technology, toil and tension in the agrofuel frontier

Garvey, Brian and Tyfield, David and de Mello, Leonardo Freire (2015) Meet the new boss ... same as the old boss? : technology, toil and tension in the agrofuel frontier. New Technology, Work and Employment, 30 (2). pp. 79-94. ISSN 0268-1072 (https://doi.org/10.1111/ntwe.12048)

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Abstract

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.

ORCID iDs

Garvey, Brian ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1931-8679, Tyfield, David and de Mello, Leonardo Freire;
  • Item type:Article
    ID code:54644
    Dates:
    Date
    Event
    21 July 2015
    Published
    21 July 2015
    Accepted
    Notes: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 doi: 10.1111/ntwe.12048. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
    Keywords:agroenergy, Brazil, commodity chains, labour, rural, technology, Management. Industrial Management, Human Factors and Ergonomics, Management of Technology and Innovation, Strategy and Management, SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
    Subjects:Social Sciences > Industries. Land use. Labor > Management. Industrial Management
    Department:University of Strathclyde > University of Strathclyde
    Strathclyde Business School > Work, Organisation and Employment
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:11 Dec 2015 00:55
    Last modified:19 Mar 2023 04:10
    Related URLs:
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/54644
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