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Global contested terrain: The case of the tuna-dolphin controversy

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Abstract

Employing the case of the global tuna-fish industry, it is argued that the process of globalization is contested terrain as it opens “free spaces” to some classes or groups and closes “free spaces” to others; that the nation-States' regulatory abilities are weakened; and finally, that while some social movements may gain, others are marginalized. Three basic conclusions are reached. (1) The industry's actions were successfully “contested” by environmental groups supported by the legislative and judicial branches of the US State. (2) Simultaneously, pro-environmental legislation is currently threatened, along with several national and international environmental accords. (3) Workers in the US and, particularly, in Latin America are paying the consequences of the introduction of pro-environmental legislation and the actions of transnational corporations (TNCs).

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Authors
  1. Douglas H. Constance
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  2. Alessandro Bonanno
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  3. William D. Heffernan
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Additional information

Douglas H. Constance is Research Associate of Rural Sociology at the University of Missouri-Columbia. His research interests include the sociology of agriculture and environmental sociology. He is the author of several journal articles and is coauthor with Alessandro Bonanno of the forthcoming bookCaught in the Net: The Global Tuna Industry, Environmentalists, and the State.

Alessandro Bonanno is Associate Professor of Rural Sociology at the University of Missouri-Columbia. His research interests focus on the sociology of agriculture and the globalization of the agro-food system. He has published numerous articles, book chapters, and books on these topics. He is coeditor ofFrom Columbus to ConAgra: The Globalization of Agriculture and Food.

William D. Heffernan is Professor of Rural Sociology at the University of Missouri-Columbia. His long term research interest has centered on the social causes and consequences of changes in agriculture. He has written more than 100 papers, articles, and book chapters on the changing nature of agriculture and the globalization of the food system. In the past few years he has given public presentations in over 30 states, Canada, Japan, and Europe focusing on the environmental and human costs of the current changes in the global food system.

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Constance, D.H., Bonanno, A. & Heffernan, W.D. Global contested terrain: The case of the tuna-dolphin controversy. Agric Hum Values 12, 19–33 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02217151

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