Asymmetric Foodscapes: State-Led Globalization, Social Stratification, and Culinary Sovereignty Under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
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Abstract
This ethnographic study examines how the Pakistan-China Economic Corridor (CPEC) shapes foodscapes and the extent of asymmetries in state-led globalization. This study, which gathered data over two years across multiple sites in Pakistan, demonstrates how food serves as a tool of gastro-diplomacy and a site of struggles over sovereignty. State narratives portray culinary connectivity and Pak-China friendship, while local farmers, vendors, and informal food workers are marginalized, face economic precarity, and remain vulnerable to threats to their culinary heritage. This study thinks with Appadurai's notion of global cultural flows and introduces the term "asymmetric foodscapes" to make sense of the unequal power dynamics that emerge in state-mediated globalization along class lines. The results show three key tensions: a) gastr
o-diplomatic harmony and grassroots struggles for sovereignty; b) the celebration of digital media and the invisible labour hierarchies; c) and modernization of agriculture against resilience of the informal food economy. Thus, the study shows how mega-infrastructure projects affect not only the physical environment but also cultural foodways, social stratification, and everyday life rhythms.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank farmers, vendors, workers, and other participants who generously shared their time and insights. The authors express special gratitude to the Basmati Heritage Movement for facilitating access to agricultural communities. All errors remain solely of the authors