FOOD SECURITY IN POLITICAL DISCOURSE OF THE COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY

Abstract

The aim of the article is to show how the term food security evolved in the political discourse of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and how it was interpreted by actors of the decision-making process to achieve the objectives pursued. For this purpose the critical discourse analysis is used. It can be concluded that soft skills, the ability to use words are increasingly important in politics. Politicians use specific types of organisations and institutions to make ideological beliefs and discourses – they need to achieve their objectives – come true. The message, which is read in a specific way to produce very specific reactions, is thus manipulated through the media and other ideological apparatuses. The evolution of theoretical concepts in the political discourse of the CAP presented in the article indicates a high dependence on path dependency. The neo-mercantilist approach to agriculture has been present from the beginning of its existence. The concepts of multifunctionality and neo-liberalism were promoted as a result of pressure from existing external and internal conditions, but they were always to legitimise maintaining high agricultural funding from the EU budget. The food crisis of 2007–2008 and food security became a fundamental elements of the political agenda, which allowed for the return of neo-productivism, in order to defend agricultural subsidies and continue the role of the state in their maintenance.