Labor Relations, Neoliberal Agri-Food Policies and Disasters In Japan

This paper probes the issue of changes in the agri-food labor structure under neoliberal globalization. Employing two cases from Japan, the paper documents the continuous crisis of independent farmers and their replacement by hired labor.  This process, it is argued, was accelerated by the implementation of neoliberal policies and by the effects of natural and human made disasters that affected Japan in recent years. More specifically, this work illustrates:1) the manner in which neoliberal agri-food policies engendered changes in agri-food labor relations; 2) the characteristics of the new forms of agricultural labor relations under neoliberalism and 3) the specific alterations of labor relations that occurred in the aftermath of recent disasters in Japan. In the first of the two cases presented, labor relations in farms controlled by the transnational corporation, Dole Food Company, are illustrated. The second case analyzes the neoliberal agricultural reforms introduced in the aftermath of the March 2011 earthquake. Also considered in this case are labor relations in the fishing sector and the responses of fishermen to the neoliberal reforms of the sector.