Jagjit Plahe | Monash University (original) (raw)
Papers by Jagjit Plahe
South Asia-journal of South Asian Studies, Jul 3, 2017
ABSTRACT Small farmers, who are normally dependent on marketing intermediaries, have formed thems... more ABSTRACT Small farmers, who are normally dependent on marketing intermediaries, have formed themselves into co-operatives in the Indian states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra and have started to sell their produce directly to consumers via retail outlets, the Internet, urban franchises, mobile vans, rural food hubs and as branded products. The key engine for this marketing experiment is the Sahaja Aharam Producer Company Limited (SAPCO), a producer organisation. SAPCO has tried to create new supply chains that guarantee that the produce it sells complies with the quality standards needed to certify the foods as ‘organic’. SAPCO is an initiative of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA) which has taken up the bulk of the financial and administrative burden of managing the company. The revival of traditional knowledge for organic farming and the marketing of organic produce has invariably required the intervention of external agents such as CSA. In the final section, we assess the achievements of SAPCO from the viewpoint of the small farmers who belong to the producer co-operatives that make up SAPCO's membership. Our key research question is whether it has been possible to scale up the production and marketing of small farmers’ output and create a new supply chain independent of local intermediaries.
Transnational corporations (TNCs) control two-thirds of global trade and investments. The total f... more Transnational corporations (TNCs) control two-thirds of global trade and investments. The total foreign assets of the top 100 TNCs amounted to US $18 trillion in 1998, according to the 1999 World Investment Report. 3 Trade these days is not confined to goods, but also ...
Human Relations, May 17, 2022
This study addresses freedom, work and organisation by problematising Amartya Sen’s pluralistic n... more This study addresses freedom, work and organisation by problematising Amartya Sen’s pluralistic notion of (development as) freedom through a fieldwork study of a Filipino non-governmental organisation that promotes sustainable agriculture. In this context, peasant farmers face increasing threat from intersecting agrarian and climate crises, exacerbated by mainstream economic paradigms for agricultural development. For Sen, development encompasses the process of expanding the ‘substantive freedoms’ of people (freedom to), and removing sources of ‘unfreedom’ (freedom from). However, it is not clear in Sen’s work how such freedoms are relationally constituted and thus the manner of the ‘labour of agential becoming’ at the core of Sen’s thought. We therefore ask: how do agroecological work and organisational practices of grassroots development promote freedom for small-scale farmers under climate threat in the Global South? Our analysis identifies a novel form of freedom – labelled ‘freedom with’ – defined as a set of relational, multi-actor capabilities and organising practices that constitute alternative, future-oriented ways of doing and being. ‘Freedom with’ enables us to better understand how and why the labour of agential becoming works, offering a theoretical extension of Sen’s notion of freedom with implications for debates in our field on sustainability and beyond-capitalist organising.
Journal of Contemporary Asia, Feb 1, 2011
Abstract The Indian government was obliged to extend private property rights to plant varieties u... more Abstract The Indian government was obliged to extend private property rights to plant varieties under the World Trade Organisation's Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement. This paper analyses the implications of India's TRIPS-induced ...
Executive (Nairobi, Kenya), 1999
Third World Quarterly, Sep 1, 2009
Third World Quarterly, Feb 1, 2003
This paper argues that whether developing countries will be able to protect their plant genetic r... more This paper argues that whether developing countries will be able to protect their plant genetic resources and the right of local communities to control and enjoy the benefits of their traditional knowledge will be determined both by policies adopted by the World Trade ...
This thesis was scanned from the print manuscript for digital preservation and is copyright the a... more This thesis was scanned from the print manuscript for digital preservation and is copyright the author. Researchers can access this thesis by asking their local university, institution or public library to make a request on their behalf. Monash staff and postgraduate students can use the link in the References field.
This collection brings together the research and reflections of a diverse international mix of ac... more This collection brings together the research and reflections of a diverse international mix of academics, activists and practitioners in the fields of fair trade and corporate accountability, representing perspectives from both the industrialized and developing worlds. ...
South Asia-journal of South Asian Studies, Jun 29, 2017
ABSTRACT India is in the grip of an agrarian crisis. Economic, social, environmental and politica... more ABSTRACT India is in the grip of an agrarian crisis. Economic, social, environmental and political forces have adversely affected the relationship between the small-scale primary producer and the production process. In the context of this crisis, traditional knowledge-inspired food systems have given rise to ‘islands of success’ that have allowed small and marginal farmers to reclaim their livelihoods across the country. In this paper, we analyse three different islands of success using an agro-ecological framework, arguing that such islands of success based on traditional knowledge are becoming an increasingly necessary approach to agriculture. However, political will, political engagement and effective policies that support traditional knowledge in agriculture are required for these islands of success to become waves of change.
PLOS Sustainability and Transformation
South Asia-journal of South Asian Studies, Nov 28, 2021
Abstract The cost of medicines in Bangladesh is among the lowest in the world. Over the last fort... more Abstract The cost of medicines in Bangladesh is among the lowest in the world. Over the last forty years, Bangladesh, a Least Developed Country (LDC), has nurtured a local industry based on strong industrial policy and a pharmaceutical patent-free system. Of the 46 LDCs in the world, it is the only one to have a thriving industry of this kind. In this paper, we explore how a relatively poor LDC managed to take on the dominance of MNCs in the global production of pharmaceuticals. We focus on the 1982 National Drug Policy (NDP) which transformed the pharmaceutical sector in Bangladesh from one in which three-quarters of drugs were supplied by just eight MNCs to one where almost all domestic demand is met by local industry. The thriving local pharmaceutical industry also exports generic medicines to 147 different countries. In 2026, Bangladesh is due to graduate to ‘Developing Country’ status, at which time, as a member of the WTO, Bangladesh will have to abide by the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement. Under TRIPS it will have to change its patent regime to allow for the registration of pharmaceutical patents by 2029. Using interview data with key Bangladeshi experts, we argue that TRIPS compliance could potentially wipe out this flourishing local pharmaceutical industry, leading to steep increases in the cost of essential medicines, with dire implications for the right to health. We explore policy options open to the Bangladesh government to protect affordable drugs in the country, in particular protection for the production of domestic generics in a post-TRIPS environment. We also argue that there are ways in which Bangladesh and India could co-operate to protect the affordability of high-quality medicines for domestic and international markets.
International Political Science Review, Oct 5, 2012
This paper explores the implications of the WTO's Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) and the Doha Rou... more This paper explores the implications of the WTO's Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) and the Doha Round agriculture negotiations for the right to food in the Global South. It tracks the contribution of civil society in pushing the food rights paradigm following agriculture's entry into multilateral trade agreements in 1995. It analyzes how the AoA imposes "free trade" on the poor, while supporting market protection in developed countries. The paper follows developing countries' efforts to advance their food security interests in negotiations, and how "divide and rule" tactics shifted overarching human rights concerns towards a focus on technical details.
The Contemporary Pacific, 2013
South Asia-journal of South Asian Studies, Jul 3, 2017
ABSTRACT Small farmers, who are normally dependent on marketing intermediaries, have formed thems... more ABSTRACT Small farmers, who are normally dependent on marketing intermediaries, have formed themselves into co-operatives in the Indian states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra and have started to sell their produce directly to consumers via retail outlets, the Internet, urban franchises, mobile vans, rural food hubs and as branded products. The key engine for this marketing experiment is the Sahaja Aharam Producer Company Limited (SAPCO), a producer organisation. SAPCO has tried to create new supply chains that guarantee that the produce it sells complies with the quality standards needed to certify the foods as ‘organic’. SAPCO is an initiative of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA) which has taken up the bulk of the financial and administrative burden of managing the company. The revival of traditional knowledge for organic farming and the marketing of organic produce has invariably required the intervention of external agents such as CSA. In the final section, we assess the achievements of SAPCO from the viewpoint of the small farmers who belong to the producer co-operatives that make up SAPCO's membership. Our key research question is whether it has been possible to scale up the production and marketing of small farmers’ output and create a new supply chain independent of local intermediaries.
Transnational corporations (TNCs) control two-thirds of global trade and investments. The total f... more Transnational corporations (TNCs) control two-thirds of global trade and investments. The total foreign assets of the top 100 TNCs amounted to US $18 trillion in 1998, according to the 1999 World Investment Report. 3 Trade these days is not confined to goods, but also ...
Human Relations, May 17, 2022
This study addresses freedom, work and organisation by problematising Amartya Sen’s pluralistic n... more This study addresses freedom, work and organisation by problematising Amartya Sen’s pluralistic notion of (development as) freedom through a fieldwork study of a Filipino non-governmental organisation that promotes sustainable agriculture. In this context, peasant farmers face increasing threat from intersecting agrarian and climate crises, exacerbated by mainstream economic paradigms for agricultural development. For Sen, development encompasses the process of expanding the ‘substantive freedoms’ of people (freedom to), and removing sources of ‘unfreedom’ (freedom from). However, it is not clear in Sen’s work how such freedoms are relationally constituted and thus the manner of the ‘labour of agential becoming’ at the core of Sen’s thought. We therefore ask: how do agroecological work and organisational practices of grassroots development promote freedom for small-scale farmers under climate threat in the Global South? Our analysis identifies a novel form of freedom – labelled ‘freedom with’ – defined as a set of relational, multi-actor capabilities and organising practices that constitute alternative, future-oriented ways of doing and being. ‘Freedom with’ enables us to better understand how and why the labour of agential becoming works, offering a theoretical extension of Sen’s notion of freedom with implications for debates in our field on sustainability and beyond-capitalist organising.
Journal of Contemporary Asia, Feb 1, 2011
Abstract The Indian government was obliged to extend private property rights to plant varieties u... more Abstract The Indian government was obliged to extend private property rights to plant varieties under the World Trade Organisation's Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement. This paper analyses the implications of India's TRIPS-induced ...
Executive (Nairobi, Kenya), 1999
Third World Quarterly, Sep 1, 2009
Third World Quarterly, Feb 1, 2003
This paper argues that whether developing countries will be able to protect their plant genetic r... more This paper argues that whether developing countries will be able to protect their plant genetic resources and the right of local communities to control and enjoy the benefits of their traditional knowledge will be determined both by policies adopted by the World Trade ...
This thesis was scanned from the print manuscript for digital preservation and is copyright the a... more This thesis was scanned from the print manuscript for digital preservation and is copyright the author. Researchers can access this thesis by asking their local university, institution or public library to make a request on their behalf. Monash staff and postgraduate students can use the link in the References field.
This collection brings together the research and reflections of a diverse international mix of ac... more This collection brings together the research and reflections of a diverse international mix of academics, activists and practitioners in the fields of fair trade and corporate accountability, representing perspectives from both the industrialized and developing worlds. ...
South Asia-journal of South Asian Studies, Jun 29, 2017
ABSTRACT India is in the grip of an agrarian crisis. Economic, social, environmental and politica... more ABSTRACT India is in the grip of an agrarian crisis. Economic, social, environmental and political forces have adversely affected the relationship between the small-scale primary producer and the production process. In the context of this crisis, traditional knowledge-inspired food systems have given rise to ‘islands of success’ that have allowed small and marginal farmers to reclaim their livelihoods across the country. In this paper, we analyse three different islands of success using an agro-ecological framework, arguing that such islands of success based on traditional knowledge are becoming an increasingly necessary approach to agriculture. However, political will, political engagement and effective policies that support traditional knowledge in agriculture are required for these islands of success to become waves of change.
PLOS Sustainability and Transformation
South Asia-journal of South Asian Studies, Nov 28, 2021
Abstract The cost of medicines in Bangladesh is among the lowest in the world. Over the last fort... more Abstract The cost of medicines in Bangladesh is among the lowest in the world. Over the last forty years, Bangladesh, a Least Developed Country (LDC), has nurtured a local industry based on strong industrial policy and a pharmaceutical patent-free system. Of the 46 LDCs in the world, it is the only one to have a thriving industry of this kind. In this paper, we explore how a relatively poor LDC managed to take on the dominance of MNCs in the global production of pharmaceuticals. We focus on the 1982 National Drug Policy (NDP) which transformed the pharmaceutical sector in Bangladesh from one in which three-quarters of drugs were supplied by just eight MNCs to one where almost all domestic demand is met by local industry. The thriving local pharmaceutical industry also exports generic medicines to 147 different countries. In 2026, Bangladesh is due to graduate to ‘Developing Country’ status, at which time, as a member of the WTO, Bangladesh will have to abide by the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement. Under TRIPS it will have to change its patent regime to allow for the registration of pharmaceutical patents by 2029. Using interview data with key Bangladeshi experts, we argue that TRIPS compliance could potentially wipe out this flourishing local pharmaceutical industry, leading to steep increases in the cost of essential medicines, with dire implications for the right to health. We explore policy options open to the Bangladesh government to protect affordable drugs in the country, in particular protection for the production of domestic generics in a post-TRIPS environment. We also argue that there are ways in which Bangladesh and India could co-operate to protect the affordability of high-quality medicines for domestic and international markets.
International Political Science Review, Oct 5, 2012
This paper explores the implications of the WTO's Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) and the Doha Rou... more This paper explores the implications of the WTO's Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) and the Doha Round agriculture negotiations for the right to food in the Global South. It tracks the contribution of civil society in pushing the food rights paradigm following agriculture's entry into multilateral trade agreements in 1995. It analyzes how the AoA imposes "free trade" on the poor, while supporting market protection in developed countries. The paper follows developing countries' efforts to advance their food security interests in negotiations, and how "divide and rule" tactics shifted overarching human rights concerns towards a focus on technical details.
The Contemporary Pacific, 2013