What is the relationship between technology and labour regimes in agrifood value chains? By deploying the concept of agrarian biopolitical articulations, Field of Glass formulates new perspectives that bridge the hitherto distinct worlds of value chain research, agrarian political economy, labour regime theory, and agrarian techno-science to explain the enduring insecurity of food systems in the United Kingdom. Using both historical and contemporary research, Adrian Smith explores how the precarity and exploitation of migrant labour intersects with ecology and techno-science/innovation, such as hydroponic and robotic technologies, to explain the development and changing nature of glasshouse agrifood value chains in the UK. Smith concludes by reflecting on how agrarian bio-politics have shaped the glasshouse agrifood sector and the emergence of contemporary 'high road' and 'low road' strategies, highlighting their contradictions and negative consequences for local development and food supply security.

‘This is a terrific book – theoretically incisive and empirically rich. It uses the fascinating story of UK glasshouse agrifood production since World War II to lucidly explore the complex interplay between value chain dynamics, labour regimes and notions of food security across multiple scales and timeframes. In so doing, it develops a sophisticated theoretical framework with much wider implications for our understanding of the articulations of labour, ecology and technology in contemporary capitalism.'

Neil Coe - Professor of Economic Geography, The University of Sydney

‘A powerful account of development and change in UK glasshouse agrifoood production and value chains. Spanning over 70 years of the glasshouse industry, Adrian Smith draws on his rigorous archival and interview-based research to historicise and theorise relationships among growers, workers, the UK government, technological change and the ecological processes upon which we all depend. He shows how these ‘agrarian biopolitical articulations' underpin the food economy, paying special attention to the often obscured but integral role of migrant labourers.'

Liam Campling - Queen Mary University of London, and author of Capitalism and the Sea

‘For scholars of economic geography, agrarian political economy, and science and technology studies, Fields of Glass will likely become a key reference point; policy-oriented readers may -at times- find its language demanding but will benefit from its uncompromising diagnosis of the contradictions built into contemporary ‘high road’ and “low road” strategies in agrifood value chains. For all readers, Fields of Glass is a rich story of a critical agricultural industry and a generous reading of different intellectual traditions and voices often excluded from policy debates and public visibility. It is essential reading for anyone concerned with the future of labor, food production, and sustainability in advanced capitalist contexts, and probably beyond.’

John Pickles Source: Agriculture and Human Values