Narratives of Hunger in International Law
Feeding the World in Times of Climate Change

An examination of how international law fails to challenge fundamental assumptions and address practical issues of hunger and climate change.

Anne Saab (Author)

9781108473378, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 4 April 2019

222 pages, 1 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.6 x 1.5 cm, 0.43 kg

This book explores the role that the language of international law plays in constructing understandings - or narratives - of hunger in the context of climate change. The story is told through a specific case study of genetically engineered seeds purportedly made to be 'climate-ready'. Two narratives of hunger run through the storyline: the prevailing neoliberal narrative that focuses on increasing food production and relying on technological innovations and private sector engagement, and the oppositional and aspirational food sovereignty narrative that focuses on improving access to and distribution of food and rejects technological innovations and private sector engagement as the best solutions. This book argues that the way in which voices in the neoliberal narrative use international law reinforces fundamental assumptions about hunger and climate change, and the way in which voices in the food sovereignty narrative use international law fails to question and challenge these assumptions.

Prologue
1. Climate change, narratives of hunger, and international law
2. Tackling hunger through international climate change law
3. The seed wars and intellectual property rights
4. Human rights, climate change, and the right to food
5. How international law upholds fundamental assumptions about hunger
Conclusion: narratives and international law.

Subject Areas: International organisations & institutions [LBBU], Public international law [LBB], International relations [JPS]