My work rests at the intersection of political ecology, political economy, and feminist theory. My present project, 'Globalizing Trust', examines transnational certification practices in the context of certified-organic and fair-trade coffee. I Trace relations of power and transparency through transnational networks, and argue that that what passes for transparency in international certification circles appears rather opaque when viewed from a coffee producer standpoint.

This lack of transparency in certified food networks is, I suggest, a result of the evolution of certification under the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) rubric. However, what most concerns me is the effect that this certification structure has on producers. My field research in Oaxaca found that certification:

• increases production costs to levels that are not sustainable, particularly for smaller organizations
• requires use of accounting and organizational skills in short supply in villages
• makes it very difficult to determine who makes decisions about prices and purchases
• enables a prolifieration of local norms and standards without providing clear channels for producers to appeal and/or modify norms

Interests: Latin America/Mexico/Political Economy/Political Ecology/Matrix Ecology/Feminist Theory/Cultural Marxism/ Transnational Institutions/ Cooperation and Cooperatives/Ethnography

Political Economy of Transnational Certification: Signs, Labels & Rents

The political economy of certification is my principal focus at the present. Key questions explore the making of the international certification regime under the ISO rubric, and the effect that this particular certification framework has on producers and producer cooperatives and unions. I make use of ethnographic fieldwork in Oaxaca, Mexico to examine three interlinked questions of political economy. First, to what degree may certified-organic and fair-trade production be understood as a form of rentier capitalism, and what implications does this have for relations with agro-food networks? Second, how does the illumination of certain practices within certified production, for instance of producer prices and cultivation methods, affect the process of commodity fetishism? Third, how does the enrollment of producers within these networks affect household decision-making and local governance practices?

Mutersbaugh, T, 2006, Agricultura orgánica, certificación medioambiental y gobernanza rural: notas sobre transparencia y opacidad, Local Agro-Food Systems Network's Third International Congress ’ÄúFood and Territories’Äù (ALTER 2006, Baeza Spain)

Mutersbaugh T, Klooster D, Renard M-C, Taylor P. 2005. Certifying rural spaces: Quality-certified products and rural governance JOURNAL OF RURAL STUDIES 21 (4): 381-388 OCT 2005

Mutersbaugh T. 2005. Just-in-space: Certified rural products, labor of quality, and regulatory spaces JOURNAL OF RURAL STUDIES 21 (4): 389-402 OCT 2005

Tovar LG , Martin L , Cruz MAG , Mutersbaugh T . 2005. Certified organic agriculture in Mexico: Market connections and certification practices in large and small producers JOURNAL OF RURAL STUDIES 21 (4): 461-474 OCT 2005

Mutersbaugh T. 2005. Fighting standards with standards: Harmonization, rents, and social accountability in certified agrofood networks ENVIRONMENT AND PLANNING A 37 (11): 2033-2051 NOV 2005

Mutersbaugh T,   'To Serve and To Certify: Organic Coffee, Certification Services and Village Cargo Service in Mexico' Environment and Planning D: Society and Space Special Issue: New Geographies of Work 22 (4): 533 - 552

Mutersbaugh T, 2003. 'Ethical Trade and Certified Organic Coffee: The implications of agricultural product certification for Mexican producer households and villages' Transnational law and Contemporary Problems 12(1): 89-107.

 

Political Ecology, Matrix Ecology & Sustainability

A second aspect of my research examines the intersection between social conservation networks ’Äì in this case organic- and fair-trade coffee producer networks ’Äì and local conservation ecologies. I make use of matrix ecology and ethnography to raise questions about the how areas in need of protection are identified, how they may be connected to other conservation areas through corridors, and how farmers can participate in regional convervation efforts. This initiative is still 'under construction' as it were, but will examine both ecological questions, framed through matrix theory, and social-network concerns addressed through theories of political economy and cultural studies.

Tad Mutersbaugh. 2006. Certifying Biodiversity: Conservation networks, landscape connectivity, and certified agriculture in Southern Mexico. In, Karl Zimmerer ed., Globalization & New Geographies of Conservation (Chicago: University of Chicago Press). pp 49-70.

Mutersbaugh T, ’ÄòDemographic Change, Commons Management, Migration', Common Property Resource Digest V June 2004

Gender, Indigenous Peoples & Development in Latin America

A third research area examines struggles over development within households, villages and communities. My village-based studies in indigenous villages within Oaxaca, Mexico point to both the vast changes that neoliberal development has wrought on Oaxaca's villages, leading to intensive migration flows and new forms of economic life and the frequent ’Äì one might say unalloyed ’Äì failure of project based development. My published work illuminates both the causes and consequences of failure, and also to the novel ways in which engagement with development projects alters local practices.

Mutersbaugh T, 2002a, 'Migration, Common Property, and Communal Labor: Cultural Politics and Agency in a Mexican Village'
Political Geography 21:473-494

Mutersbaugh T, 2002c 'Building Co’Äëops, Constructing Communality: Geographies of cooperative politics' Annals of the Association of American Geographers 92(4): 21 pages

Mutersbaugh T, ’ÄòBread or Chainsaws?: Paths to Mobilizing Labor for Cooperative Rural Development in a Oaxacan Village (Mexico)' Economic Geography 75(1): 43-58

Mutersbaugh T, , 'Women's Work, Men's Work: Technology Acquisition in a Oaxacan Village (Mexico)'
Environment and Planning D: Society and Space V16 pp. 439-458.

Mutersbaugh, T., ’ÄòRural Industrialization as Development Strategy: Cooperation and Conflict'
Yearbook, Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers 23:91-105