Food Security and Comparative Sociology: Research, Theories, and Concepts

This article examines the role of comparative sociological perspectives for explaining food security. Because food security is an interdisciplinary concept with numerous economic, political, and social considerations, sociology is particularly well suited for examining it-with strengths from using multiple theories and testing such propositions with rigorous methods to determine the most proximate explanations for the dynamics of hunger. The article presents measures and constructs for food security and its determinants, offers theories for explaining it and. the benefits of cross-national research on this issue, and shows how sociology can contribute to understanding the sociopolitical roots of hunger. There is great potential for future comparative, sociological research on food security that builds upon recent works that have established sociologys place in this arena, traditionally dominated by research overly concerned with production and supply and not enough with the conflict, stratification, and inequality that are most essential to hunger.