Trained as a historical sociologist, my research examines capitalist modernity through the lens of agrarian questions, food regimes, agrarian/food sovereignty movements, and most recently the implications for food systems of agrofuels and land grabbing. This work centers the role of agri-food systems in the making of the modern world, including an examination of the politics of globalization via the structuring of agri-food relations. My research includes consulting with the FAO, UNRISD, the International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty, the international peasant coalition, La Vía Campesina, FoodFirst Information and Action Network (FIAN), and the Eco-Agriculture Partners project: Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative. Connected to this work was an eight-year project on contemporary social movements with over a dozen fellow investigators (current and former graduate students), culminating in Contesting Development: Critical Struggles for Social Change (Routledge, 2010).