抄録
This paper has two primary objectives. First, it seeks to present a conceptual framework for
understanding the current state of food systems as a whole. Second, it explores the potential for
spreading civic agriculture in Japan. I begin by introducing the concept of food politics, which
encompasses the relational dynamics among various actors such as farmers, consumers, food citizens, agro-food transnational corporations (TNCs), and governments involved in food systems. This is
followed by a discussion of the three-dimensional framework—historical, spatial, and economic/social/ecological. This discussion emphasizes the social and ecological aspects and highlights the role of food citizens, community engagement, and the particular ecological perspective that embraces nonhumans to transcend a conventional nature/human dualism. Subsequently, I examine the three discourses of food security: market-oriented (global), state-centered (national), and community/livelihoodcentered (local). Based on these discussions, I analyze the missteps in Japan’s post-war agricultural development, which have been characterized by the depoliticization of potential food citizens and local communities. While the civic agriculture in the United States and other Western societies have, to
some extent, maintained what is called “small-c” conservatism, Japanese society largely lacks this infrapolitical function. The paper concludes with a pessimistic outlook on the possibility of establishing
civic agriculture in Japan.
