Note publique d'information : "Varietals of Capitalism shows that politics is an omnipresent part of the economics
of wine and of economic activity in general. Based on a four-year research project
encompassing fieldwork in France, Spain, Italy, and Romania, Xabier Itçaina, Antoine
Roger, and Andy Smith examine the causes and effects of a radical reform adopted at
the EU level in 2008. Regulatory change politically transformed the rationale of EU
support to the wine industry, from shaping the supply side to encouraging producers
to adapt to the demands of a supposedly "new consumer." To explain the adoption and
impact of the reform, the authors develop an analytical framework to capture the actors
- their perceptions, preferences, and interdependencies - within an industry crisscrossed
by institutions located at the global, European, national, and local scales. This
framework combines concepts and lessons from historical institutionalism and regulationist
economics, Bourdieu's field theory, and the sociology of public policymaking. The
authors reject accounts that attribute policy change simply to material determinants
and “the invisible hand of the market.” They emphasize the crucial importance of institutions
within sectors of the economy, and propose ways to bolster constructivist approaches
to political economy by linking industrial change to scientific and bureaucratic balances
of power. This book's novel focus on different levels of institutional impact should
prove influential in the study of the politics of industry, and more broadly within
the comparative analysis of capitalism"--Publisher's website