On Feeding the Masses

An Anatomy of Regulatory Failure in China

John K. Yasuda (Indiana University)

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English

Cambridge University Press
21 January 2021

China's food safety system is in crisis. Egregious scandals, as varied as the sale of liquor laced with Viagra and the distribution of fake eggs, reveal how regulatory practices have been stretched to their limit in the world's largest food production system. On Feeding the Masses focuses on the oft-cited but ultimately overlooked concept of scale to identify the root causes of China's regulatory failures in food safety. The 'politics of scale' framework highlights how regulators disagree on which level of government is best suited to regulate ('the scale of governance'), struggle to address multilevel tensions ('multidimensional scale integration'), and fail to understand how policies at one level of government can affect other levels of government in unexpected and costly ways ('scale externalities'). Drawing from over 200 interviews with food safety regulators and producers, the study provides one of the most comprehensive accounts of China's food safety crisis to date.

By: John K. Yasuda (Indiana University)
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 151mm, Spine: 18mm
Weight: 436g
ISBN: 9781316648971
ISBN 10: 1316648974
Pages: 278
Publication Date: 21 January 2021
Audience: Professional and scholarly , College/higher education , Undergraduate , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

1. Food safety and China's scale problem; 2. Revisiting scale; 3. On feeding the masses; 4. The export sector: the heavy hand of direct control; 5. CSA markets: 'I don't sell vegetables, I sell trust'; 6. Failed state policies: scale and its discontents; 7. Co-regulatory initiatives: China's big, small farmer problem; 8. Scaling-down: moving from global to the local; 9. Scaling-up: from local experiments to national solutions?; 10. The scale politics of regulatory giants compared; 11. Parting thoughts on scale; Appendix; References; Bibliography.

John K. Yasuda is Assistant Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Indiana University, Bloomington. Yasuda's research includes the study of regulatory reform in China, governance, and the politics of regulatory failure. He has published in the China Quarterly, the Journal of Politics, and Regulation and Governance. Yasuda has commented on food safety issues for The Guardian, The New York Times, and China Dialogue. Research for On Feeding the Masses was supported by the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Award, the NSEP Boren Fellowship, and the National Science Foundation. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and his M.Phil. from the University of Oxford.

Reviews for On Feeding the Masses: An Anatomy of Regulatory Failure in China

'Food safety has become one of the most salient quality-of-life issues. Using a 'politics of scale' framework, John K. Yasuda sheds important light on the politics of food safety in China. He also helps us appreciate the challenges of governance in large-scale polities.' Dali L. Yang, University of Chicago 'Why do government regulations designed to safeguard the public so often fail to achieve this goal in practice? John K. Yasuda's On Feeding the Masses provides a fresh answer to this important question by going deep inside the Chinese state. Yasuda finds that the lackluster performance of China's national food safety system stems not from corruption, lack of state capacity, or recalcitrant bureaucrats, but from 'scale politics,' that is, the difficulties of coordinating knowledge, procedures, and rules across different levels of government. Yasuda's 'politics of scale' theoretical framework, which he elucidates and tests with impressive subnational and cross-national evidence, offers an exciting new way for scholars and practitioners to understand and manage the challenges of multilevel governance.' Richard Snyder, Brown University, Rhode Island '… Yasuda's new book On Feeding the Masses: An anatomy of Regulatory Failure in China is worth the wait. … Part of the appeal of Yasuda's conceptual framework is its ability to incorporate so much analytical territory. Overall, Yasuda's book will appeal to political scientists and policy analysts researching China, as well as anyone researching or working in the food industries in China. It is also an excellent teaching resource for undergraduate and graduate courses on food and government in China.' Sacha Cody, newbooks.asia