Doctoral Dissertation Research: Setting the Standard -- Competing Values in the South African Red Meat Commodity Chain

这篇论文的研究改进赠款考察了不断变化的国际和国家标准对南非红肉商品链中人类和非人类行为者的影响。南非直到最近才有机会成为国际贸易舞台上一个可接受的伙伴。为了在国际市场上取得成功，南非可能不得不采用一些标准，对现有的“传统”标准提出质疑，这些标准已经并将继续服务于经济以外的其他目的。该项目将考察社会互动对标准形成和被塑造的方式，因此，将揭示标准中嵌入的道德价值观。这种理解将提高在国家和地方各级审查全球农业和粮食贸易对不同行为者群体的影响的能力，特别是因为他们因种族和性别而不同。该项目利用四种互补的方法来分析标准如何促进特定的价值，以及不同的网络如何协商这些标准。方法包括：(1)半结构化访谈，(2)持续参与观察，(3)回顾和分析与红肉标准历史发展相关的技术文件，以及(4)回顾南非红肉行业的官方统计数据。

This dissertation research improvement grant examines the impact of changing international and national standards on human and non-human actors in the South African red meat commodity chain. South Africa only recently has had the opportunity to become an acceptable partner in the international trading arena. In order to be successful in international markets, South Africa may have to adopt standards that call into question the existing "traditional" standards that have and continue to serve other purposes, beyond the economic. This project will examine the way standards shape and are shaped by social interaction, and therefore, will reveal the ethical values that are embedded in standards. Such an understanding will improve the ability to examine the impact of global trade in agriculture and food on diverse groups of actors, particularly as they differ by race and gender, at the national and local levels. The project utilizes four complementary methods to analyze how standards promote particular values and how differing networks negotiate these standards. The methods include: (1) semi-structured interviews, (2) on-going participant observation, (3) a review and analysis of technical documents related to the historical development of red meat standards, and (4) a review of official statistics on the red meat industry in South Africa.