Local-global linkages in the food regime: global history and the internationalization of Brazilian agribusiness

Abstract This paper analyzes the internationalization of the Brazilian agricultural sector through a “global history” approach. The goal of the paper is to understand the internationalization of agribusiness as a smaller part of a transformation in the global food regime. In tracing the trajectory of agribusiness internationalization in Brazil, the paper explores patterns of local-global interaction and the new opportunities that emerge in global food regimes as a result. Finally, the paper probes the internationalization of Brazilian agribusiness under the state-agrarian elite partnership that has taken advantage of local and global transformations in agribusiness in recent history.