Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and critical agrarian studies

This paper reviews analyses of the implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for the global food system and food security. Key critical agrarian studies-affiliated accounts, like mainstream ones, conceptualize Russia’s war primarily as a ‘shock’, and the paper shows how accounts name, describe, explain the origins and causal impacts of, and assign responsibility for that shock. While CAS studies make essential contributions, the literature treats Russia’s invasion as exogenous to the global food system in ways that should be questioned. CAS studies should apply other established CAS framings – geopolitics, imperialism and colonialism, and land/resource grabbing – to Russia.