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

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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
      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:28 May 2021 00:27
      Related URLs:
      URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/54644
    CORE (COnnecting REpositories)