9422817 JAROSZ Although considerable attention has been given to globalization of manufacturing industries, dramatic changes also have transformed agricultural enterprises. Global food productive systems now are characterized by vertical and horizontal integration of multinational corporations and by capital- and labor-intensive production, processing, and distribution networks. This Research Planning Grant will enable a productive female investigator to continue development of an international comparative research project. This project will explore how changing divisions of labor in the apple industries of the U.S., France, and South Africa have evolved over recent decades as industries in all of these regions have become competitors for Asian and European markets. The research will rely on historical and archival research as well as focus groups and interviews with owners, operators, and workers in different facets of the industry. This award will facilitate refinement of research plans in South Africa and Washington state. This award will continue the development of a research project with great potential. The project will compare the ways that changing divisions of labor among different class, ethnic, and gender groups are related to globalization of agricultural industries in different regions. Through these analyses, more complete understandings will result of the opportunities and constraints facing each of the regions as they try to develop socially and environmentally sustainable agricultural systems that are economically competitive in global markets.
