Publisher: Routledge, Routledge Studies in Food, Society and the Environment
Forthcoming: september, 12th 2018, p. 232 – 20 B/W Illustrations, price : £88
ISBN:  9781138897656

To order the book on Routledge website

Around the world, food has probably never been as safe as it is today. However, periodic crises have aroused consumer anxiety and contributed to a general lack of confidence in the agro-industrial system. The diverse nature of these crises increases governments’ and industry difficulties in predicting and tackling them. This book addresses the relations between risk and food theoretically and empirically through case studies from Japan and China.

Part one of the book examines the interaction between theoretical aspects and decision-making. The book theorizes the links between food and risk and analyses the decision-making process in light of risks and governance. The relationship between food risks, governance systems, and economic decisions is assessed to explore ideas such as the « pact of nutrition » and the theory of weak signals. Part two examines case studies from China and Japan in the aftermaths of recent crises such as the milk powder scandal in China and food safety following the Fukushima nuclear accident and tsunami in Japan.

This book will be an important resource for scholars, academics and policy-makers in the fields of sociology, economics, food studies, Chinese studies and Japanese studies and theories of risks and safety.

 

Introduction

Part 1 Theoretical and Regulatory Framework

Chapter 1 Beyond Weak Signals Listening Theory: From Risk Analysis to the Management of Alimentary Concerns – Jean-Pierre Poulain (CERTOP)

Chapter 2 Food Safety and Consumer Rationality: Is a « Food Pact » Possible? – Florent Champy

Chapter 3 Contemporary Food Crises: When Industrial Failure Meets State Impotence – Vincent Simoulin (CERTOP)

Part 2 Perspectives from Japan and China

Chapter 4 Revisiting Frank Knight: Risks and Uncertainties in the Context of Food Safety in Japan after the Fukushima Nuclear Accident – Louis Augustin-Jean

Chapter 5 Essential Elements for Interactive Risk Communication in the Food-Related Emergencies: A Model and Experiments on the Health Effects of Radioactive Substances – Yoko Niiyama

Chapter 6 The Private-Public Complementary Relationship for Managing Catastrophic Risk in Egg Production and Marketing in Japan – Michitoshi Yamaguchi

Chapter 7 The Rise of a Risk-Based Approach to Implementing Food Safety Law in China – Yongkang An

Chapter 8 A Study on Peasant Behaviour and Peasant Niche in Contemporary China’s Agri-food Supply System: Evidence from Henan Province – Jinghan Ke and Shuji Hisano

Chapter 9 Food Risks? What Food Risks? – Gaps between Perception and Practice in Chinese Food Consumption – David Kurt Herold

Conclusion

Louis Augustin-Jean, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University – PolyU Department of Applied Social Sciences

Jean-Pierre Poulain, Full professor in socio-anthropology, Université Toulouse – Jean Jaurès, CERTOP – UMR5044 CNRS

Email: poulain@univ-tlse2.fr