Call for abstracts - ESG 2026 panel on The political economy of food system governance
Anja Bless
Dear colleagues,
Adding to the panel call-outs for the 2026 Earth System Governance Conference in Bath (8-10 September 2025), we are inviting abstracts for a panel on the political economy of food system governance. The panel abstract is below, please reach out to me by 9 January 2026 if you are interested in joining. The panel organisers will be confirming the papers on this date and submitting the full set of abstracts by 15 January.
The political economy of food system governance
Stream: Architecture and agency
Organisers: Anja Bless (University of Technology Sydney), Kathrin Lauber (University of Edinburgh), Janaína Pinto (Observatório Interdisciplinar das Mudanças Climáticas)
Agri-food systems are one of the primary drivers behind the transgression of planetary boundaries. At the same time, food systems are already being impacted by climate change and governments across scales are increasingly concerned that their cities, nations, and regions are at risk of food insecurity. Power inequities exacerbate the challenges involved in shifting towards just and sustainable food system governance, with corporate concentration defining not only food value chains but also political influence within and beyond food system institutions. Despite long-standing scholarly and advocacy attention, the political-economic landscape of the food system continues to enable the accumulation of power in private hands while sustainability issues remain unresolved. This panel aims to explore both emerging and evolving political-economic dynamics in the food system, and the implications of shifting power and authority in food system governance.
We welcome theoretical and empirical papers on this theme, including topics such as political power and obstruction in food system governance across scales, contestation in food value chains, the impacts of geopolitical shifts on food system outcomes, and efforts to counter or challenge power inequities in food system governance.
Kind regards,
Anja Bless (she/her)
Lecturer
International Studies and Global Societies | Faculty of Design and Society | University of Technology Sydney
E: anja....@uts.edu.au | LinkedIn
Building 10, Level 5, Room 483
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I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which I live and work and pay my respects to elders past and present. |
Latest publications
Bless, Anja, Federico Davila, and Roel Plant. 2025. “Commodification and Co-Benefits: Neoliberalism and the Growth of Regenerative Agriculture in Australia.” Journal of Rural Studies 118:103692. doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2025.103692.
Bless, Anja. 2024. “The Co-Optation of Regenerative Agriculture: Revisiting the Corporate Environmental Food Regime.” Globalizations (0):1–23. doi:10.1080/14747731.2024.2397260.
Lee, Thomas, Daniel Ramp, and Anja Bless. 2025. “Unlocking Digital Twin Planning for Grazing Industries with Farmer Centred Design.” Agriculture and Human Values. doi:10.1007/s10460-025-10752-x.
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