Narratives of Hunger in International Law
Feeding the World in Times of Climate Change
Cambridge Studies in International and Comparative Law Series

This book explores the role that the language of international law plays in constructing understandings - or narratives - of hunger in the context of climate change. The story is told through a specific case study of genetically engineered seeds purportedly made to be 'climate-ready'. Two narratives of hunger run through the storyline: the prevailing neoliberal narrative that focuses on increasing food production and relying on technological innovations and private sector engagement, and the oppositional and aspirational food sovereignty narrative that focuses on improving access to and distribution of food and rejects technological innovations and private sector engagement as the best solutions. This book argues that the way in which voices in the neoliberal narrative use international law reinforces fundamental assumptions about hunger and climate change, and the way in which voices in the food sovereignty narrative use international law fails to question and challenge these assumptions.

Prologue; 1. Climate change, narratives of hunger, and international law; 2. Tackling hunger through international climate change law; 3. The seed wars and intellectual property rights; 4. Human rights, climate change, and the right to food; 5. How international law upholds fundamental assumptions about hunger; Conclusion: narratives and international law.

Anne Saab is an Assistant Professor in International Law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, as well as Co-Director of the Institute's LL.M. programme. Prior to joining the Graduate Institute, she completed a Ph.D. in International Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2015, an LL.M. from King's College London in 2009, and an LL.B. from Leiden University in 2008. Prior to entering academia, Anne Saab worked as a policy officer and legal counsel at the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and the Foreign Office. Her research interests focus on food, environment, and more recently on emotions and international law.