Modernity and the Politics of Food Insecurity in Pakistan

Abstract

Food is multidimensional in its impact and position in a society, and sociology as a wide
framework encompassing multiple spectrums of thought is the most apt framework to study it. In
the developing world, food insecurity has been a problem for ages, and Pakistan as a developing
country has its own stream of problems and factors that contribute to the persistence of this issue.
Other than playing a crucial role in human sustenance, food can also be perceived as a modicum
of achieving Weberian modernity in a society, where predictable and calculable measures of
producing and distributing food can lead to a modern efficient society. The downside of this can
be a subsequent commodification of food, as identified by Frederick Magdoff, making it a product
to be sold, rather than a human necessity. While Pakistan identifies the importance of advancing
the society systematically in the food sector, and there seems to be attempts of introducing a
greater predictability and calculability in the agricultural industry, its various issues such as an
unpredictable, unchecked increase of population thrusts the country back into food insecurity.
Combined with another Weberian nemesis of a modern society; the presence of irrationality due
to lack of adequate awareness and knowledge leads the country into a situation where food is no
doubt commodified, but without the achievement of modernizing the sector or society as desired,
giving rise to other problems such as impersonality of farmers, while sustaining it's already present
problems.