Hour of darkness : vulnerability, security and globalization

Abstract. The events of September 11^th in New York and Washington DC have compelled us to focus on the links between globalization and security. I focus on this relationship by exploring the links between food security, vulnerability to hunger and the world market. Using the new book by Mike Davis on late Victorian famines, I show how his political ecology of famine challenges the work of Amartya Sen on entitlements. My contribution examines how and why entitlements need to be deepened and expanded and grounded in a sophisticated understanding of global political economy. Case materials from Africa and India are deployed to illustrate this argument.