Dr Tomaz Mefano Fares
Lecturer

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Profile

Biography

Tomaz M. Fares is a political economist specialising in global China and agrarian studies. Before joining the department, he lectured in international development studies at SOAS, University of London, and international business at the University of Bedfordshire.

Tomaz has published in prestigious international journals and has coordinated grants from ESRC and the Brazilian CNPq and FAPESP in multiple research projects. He holds a PhD in development studies from SOAS University of London, a master’s degree in history from Peking University, and a bachelor's degree in international relations from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

At the University of York, Tomaz serves as the coordinator of the International Studies Research Cluster, overseeing research collaboration within the department. He also acts as the Departmental International Officer, managing undergraduate exchange programmes.

Tomaz also plays a central role in teaching, designing and coordinating the MA-level module The Political Economy of Global China and contributing to the Rising Powers and Undergraduate Dissertation modules.

Research

Overview

Tomaz’s primary research concerns the political economy of rural China and its integration into global capitalism. He focuses on the power dynamics among Chinese agribusiness, examining the divergent economic strategies and political actions of leading players to secure and promote their interests at both national and international levels. Tomaz’s research also offers pertinent insights into state-market dynamics, highlighting Chinese state institutions as contentious spaces involving processes of wealth and capital accumulation. He challenges the notion of an undivided and stable political system in China, emphasising growing class divergences as the country expands globally.

Another main area of his research concerns China’s relationships with non-Western countries. This includes an in-depth investigation of China’s partnerships with parties and governments in Latin America during the Cold War. His study reveals a nuanced Chinese foreign policy, oscillating between promoting the "world revolution" and pursuing national interests through diplomatic endeavours.

Tomaz's scholarly interests also include state analyses, food regime analyses, environment and sustainable development, and Latin American studies.

Supervision

PhD Supervision:

Yan Ziyu, Vulnerabilities of the Global Food System: The Case of Egyptian Wheat
Li, Tonghua, The High Politics of Food: Investigating the Intersections between Geopolitics, Food Security and Environmental Sustainability
Alexandros Mitsionis, Investigating political drivers of PTAs: Convergences and Divergences in the US and EU trade strategies in East Asia from 2001 onwards

Publications

Selected publications

Tomaz’s publications include:

What Does the Mid-1990s Soybean Liberalization Tell Us About the Role of Foreign Investments in China’s Early Rural Industrialization?. Review of International Political Economy.
China’s Financialized Soybeans: The Fault Lines of Neomercantilism Narratives in International Food Regime Analyses. Journal of Agrarian Change, 23 (3): 477-499, 2023.

Food Security and Power Struggle in the Chinese ‘Battle of the Beans’. Journal of Peasant Studies, 50 (5): 2024-2049, 2023.

Why and how is China reordering the food regime? The Brazil-China soy-meat complex and COFCO’s global strategy in the Southern Cone. Journal of Peasant Studies, 50 (4): 1376-1404, 2023. Co-authored with Valdemar João Wesz Junior and Fabiano Escher.

中国对巴西的双重外交: 从断交到建交的两国关系限制 [China’s Dual Foreign Diplomacy Towards Brazil: The Limitations of Bilateral Relations from the Breaking Off to Re-establishing of Diplomatic Ties]. 拉丁美洲研究 [Journal of Latin American Politics and Society]. (forthcoming).

The Rise of State-Transnational Capitalism in the Xi Jinping Era: A Case Study of China’s International Expansion in the Soybean Commodity Chain. Journal fur Entwicklungspolitik, 35 (4), 86-106, 2019.

O Desenvolvimento Agrário Chinês e sua Integração com o Agronegócio Brasileiro [China’s Agrarian Development and its integration with Brazilian Agribusiness]. Leste Vermelho, 3 (1), 1-16. 2017.
A Diplomacia Chinesa e as Relações com o Brasil (1949-1974) [China’s Diplomacy and the Relations with Brazil (1949-1974)]. Século XXI – Revista de Relações Internacionais, ESPM, 7 (1), 27-46, 2016.
A Música Chinesa - Uma Morte Prematura [The Demise of the Chinese Music]. Leste Vermelho, 2 (1), 33-44. 2016.

Dr Tomaz Mefano Fares Lecturer