The Soybean Through World History: Lessons for Sustainable Agrofood Systems

“The Soybean through World History is an essential guide to understanding how soy has come to play such a central role in the world food economy today. In this innovative and well-written volume, Baraibar Norberg and Deutsch provide a fascinating look at the longue durée of soy, mapping the long historical cycles through which its production has fueled vast trade networks as well as complex ecological consequences.” Jennifer Clapp, Political Economist Professor and Canada Research Chair in Global Food Security and Sustainability at the University of Waterloo “This is not the first book on the history of soy – but it’s the first truly global and long-term account combining politico-economic and socio-ecological perspec-tives. Following soy’s pathways from ancient China to modern globalization, the book explains how this commodity has become so central in the current agro-food system, including its burden for society and nature.” Ernst Langthaler, Economic Historian Professor and Head of the Department of Social and Economic History at the Johannes Kepler University Linz as well as Head of the Institute of Rural History in St. Pölten “From the meticulous examination of ancient texts and humble contexts to the investigation of today’s conglomerates, the authors trace the successive historical transformations of soy, now a key player in the planet’s increasingly vulnerable and unsustainable agrofood system. Soy’s social, economic, and political history, fraught as it has become, nonetheless offers a means by which the next transfor-mation, more stable and equitable, can still take place.” Carole L. Crumley, Anthropology Professor at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and Executive Director of IHOPE at Uppsala University “In line with revolutionizing studies of sugar, coffee, salt, cod and other trans-formative global commodities, Baribar Norberg and Deutsch have crafted a com-prehensive, yet convincing and accessible world history of soy – this ancient, ever-changing bean, arguably the most expansive element of current unsustain-able Anthropocene food-chains, but also with untapped potential to support a resilient future.” Sverker Sörlin, Environmental Historian Professor, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm and co-founder KTH Environmental Humanities Laboratory