Policy, obligation and justice in Australia's tobacco growing industry

Abstract

This thesis provides an account of the responses of the tobacco growers of Myrtleford to the closure of the domestic tobacco industry, the growth of an illegal tobacco (known as chop-chop) market and the role that regulatory and policy measures have played in the history of the industry. Within the framework of neoliberalism, Individuals are perceived as having the capability and potential to be self-sufficient and 'enterprising' in creating their capital. In the case of Myrtleford tobacco growers, a neoliberal model fails to recognise the extent to which human agency can be constrained by structural forces. Such constraint not only prevented the tobacco growers from becoming economically self-sufficient but also harmed their capacity to rebuild their lives. This thesis brings together sociological and regulatory literatures to examine the history of the regulatory policy arrangements underpinning the domestic tobacco industry. Pierre Bourdieu's theory of field and habitus is applied to frame the research with various theories operating within it. The field of tobacco growing is a complex social environment in which government, the tobacco manufacturers, the anti-tobacco movement and the tobacco growers struggle for resources using different types of capital to maintain their power. The administration, change and removal of regulation and policies reveal transformations and power struggles for different types of capital between actors in the field of the domestic tobacco industry. The thesis employs a narrative approach to demonstrate how regulation and agricultural policy have affected the lives of tobacco growers. The development of the chop-chop market is analysed through the narratives of growers. These narratives show how different market layers are developed that represent different behaviours and relationships between buyers and sellers. Engagement in different layers involved the growers and the broader community in using their social capital and reinventing their habitus in the field of chop-chop tobacco. This model sets up a further analysis using a motivational postures framework to understand why people became active participants in the chop-chop market. An integrative analysis of market response and motivational behaviour of a collective illuminates the processes that lead to the growers' disempowerment, which is often neglected in the development and implementation of regulation and policy programs. It goes beyond formal analyses constrained by what the law says and what economic modeling predicts will occur to reveal the complex problems that arise within communities and how new social arrangements create social distance between a collective and the authorities. The last part of the thesis takes a psycho-social approach to show how collectives manage regulatory and policy changes through focusing on the justice of respect. To demonstrate the potential of a justice of respect framework, a critical evaluation of processes and outcomes of the growers' Co-operative identifies how a culture of disrespect developed that failed growers and further exacerbated the growers' disempowerment. The research concludes by arguing that if those holding economic and political power adopted a justice of respect approach, they might enable collectives to maintain their dignity and resilience in times of policy change, and have a better chance of earning trust and thereby eliciting cooperation in the future. Show more