State Capitalism under Neoliberalism: The Case of Agriculture and Food in Brazil

State Capitalism under Neoliberalism analyzes state capitalism in agri-food under neoliberalism and investigates state-sponsored actions designed to counter the negative consequences of the implementation of free-market policies and strategies. In particular, it probes efforts of the Brazilian State to respond to the neoliberalization and corporatization of agriculture and food. Between 2003 and 2016, the left leaning Workers’ Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores) governed Brazil, which claimed to support landless peasants, family farming, food sovereignty, and state regulation of the unwanted consequences of the evolution of free market capitalism. The contributors analyze these actions of the Brazilian state, stressing its accomplishments and limits, and argue that the emancipatory actions of the Brazilian state engendered a complex and contradictory set of results which show that state capitalism is a problematic solution to the problems generated by the global neoliberal regime.