Description
During the 2018-2020 US-China soybean trade dispute, China constructed a narrative strategy centered on “food security,” marking a pivotal moment in transforming external economic shocks into political narratives and reshaping the essence of food security. Based on a post-structuralist perspective and critical discourse analysis, this paper analyzes official policy documents and state media publications during the soybean trade dispute to develop a framework for examining how state-capitalist food security discourse is shaped. It examines the construction of discourse content, legitimization strategies, and identity formation processes within a one-party authoritarian system. By examining the binary oppositions within food security narratives, this study traces the temporal shaping of discourse during the trade dispute and elucidates its diffusion process. We argue that in the soybean dispute with the US, the Chinese government politicized food by exercising state control over knowledge production, capital allocation, and narrative interpretation, thereby aligning food security discourse with the logic of state capitalist governance. By revealing how crisis discourse functions as a governance tool, this study offers new perspectives for critical discussions on sovereignty, development, and political narratives in state capitalist governance.
