A Comparative Analysis of the Social Performance of Global and Local Berry Supply Chains
The goal of this paper is twofold: to comparatively analyze the social performance of global and local berry supply chains and to explore the ways in which the social dimension is embedded in the overall performance of food supply chains. To achieve this goal, the social performance of five global and local food supply chains in two countries are analyzed: wild blueberry supply chains in Latvia and cultivated raspberry supply chains in Serbia. The study addresses two research questions: (1) What is the social performance of the local and global supply chains? (2) How can references to context help improve understanding of the social dimension and social performance of food supply chains? To…
A discursive analysis of oppositional interpretations of the agro-food system: A case study of Latvia
Abstract This article critically reflects on the literature that addresses the complexity of food systems, which is often caught in application of simplistic binary oppositions of local vs. global, short vs. long, sustainable vs. intensive, etc. It then goes on to show, through a case study analysis of food-system discourses in Latvia how the binary oppositions surrounding with food systems, are actually mobilised in a specific national context. Agro-food systems are often explained through binary opposing knowledge systems that, depending on the theoretical affiliation of the author, might be called frames, narratives or discourses. These powerful instruments are used to explain, and often…
Manoeuvring between regulations to achieve locally accepted results : analysis of school meals in Latvia and Finland
Rather than having a consistent food policy, countries often tend to regulate food from the margins of other policy domains such as agricultural, environmental, welfare or educational policies. Regulatory interventions perceive food as an instrument rather than a domain with its own specific set of policy issues and view food provision as an activity to achieve certain economic, social and environmental objectives. This fragments the food policy into disintegrated points of interventions from various policy areas and leaves unregulated voids that can be exploited either to improve or to reduce the effectiveness of the interventions. This article explores interlinkages between fragmented pol…
Construction of Pupil Identities at School
LU Advanced Social and Political Research institutePhone: +371 67 140 233e-mail: mikelis.grivins@lu.lv Several theorists who have analysed education on the micro-level have illustrated how mutual relations and process interpretation influence the education results. Furthermore, these authors show why relations are more beneficial to some pupils than to others. However, explanations why some pupils tend to benefit more are still simplistic, addressing only some of involved agents. This paper analyses how pupil identities in school are constructed. A teacher – one of the agents involved in the education process – holds the power to control the education process of pupils. Additionally, he has…