Ecosocialism, degrowth, and agri-food systems: a crucial missing link?

The interconnected crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and global social inequality have been theorised as direct consequences of capitalist dynamics of accumulation, labour and nature appropriation, and economic growth. Despite their diverse historical traditions and diagnoses about the causes and solutions of these crises, different post-capitalist and anticapitalist schools of thought have started a dialogue to create the intellectual foundations of a socio-ecological transformation towards social justice, improved human wellbeing, and ecological sustainability. This contribution assesses the state of the art in the discussion between two of these schools, i.e., ecosocialism and degrowth, with a specific focus on agri-food systems. Although socialist and Marxist debates have historically included food and agriculture, and degrowth research has recently expanded from local case studies to broad agri-food systems, the dialogue between both schools seems to be currently missing a specific focus on agri-food systems. This contribution proposes to start the conversation by considering how the concept of ‘cheap food’ (e.g., the capitalist process of cheapening food prices to ensure a larger appropriation of labour in the world-ecology) could help degrowth literature to engage with the political economy of agri-food systems. By providing a robust explanation of the role of food production in a general theory of capital accumulation and growth, this approach can help degrowth-oriented researchers and practitioners to better understand the implications of food system transformations for broader socio-ecological transformations. Finally, these insights point in the direction of exploring food system transformation strategies based on food decommodification and food sovereignty.