Paper short abstract:

In this paper I analyse ideas around the "just price" in the context of family dairy farms in Galicia, and the clash between this concept and that of "sustainable price"; a clash that appeared in the context of the crisis that arose after the elimination of milk quotas in Europe.

Paper long abstract:

In April 2015, European Union milk quotas - a mechanism to control milk production- came to an end. This meant the liberalization of the dairy market. From that moment many producers across Europe began a series of protests and demonstrations, among them farmers in Galicia (a region in north-western Spain). In this paper I analyze the protests that took place in Galicia in order to discuss ideas around a key concept: the "just price".

I carry out this analysis from the perspective of the moral economy. Drawing on the work of J.C. Scott and William James Booth, as well as authors that examine Thomas Aquinas' notion of just price, like John W.Baldwin, I argue that just price is not a new claim for Galician farmers, and that they have used it constantly to protest against economic dependence that, in their opinion, the Common Agricultural Policy subsidies entail. The concept of just price that is used in the claims of the farmers clashes with another concept that has developed during this crisis: the "sustainable price". The latter is used mainly by the central and regional governments, and also by other powerful actors, such as the dairy industry and distribution companies. Farmers consider that, unlike "just price", the notion of "sustainable price" does not represent their interests. Rather, it is used by the government in a way that allows the industry and distributors to circumvent the regulation that ensures a fair minimum price.