Antony Fisher, Buxted Chicken, and the Meaning of Freedom: Towards an Environmental History of Neoliberalism

• In Event: Telling Environmental Histories of Capitalism through Commodities

Abstract

Chicken meat was among the great winners of the post-war consumer society. All over the Western world, people developed a growing appetite for “white meat” while new production methods transformed an animal that was previously a side show on the farm (often raised by women) into the poster child of factory farming. However, the pioneer on the British market, Buxted Chicken, is also of interest for a second reason: its owner, Antony Fisher, was also the founder of the Institute of Economic Affairs, which is widely known for its key role in the global spread of neoliberalism. Fisher sold his company in the late 1960s when the growing influence of large corporations, particularly supermarkets, made the chicken business increasingly difficult for individual entrepreneurs. Fisher took his money to the Cayman Islands, where he sought to replicate his success in factory farming with sea turtles. While successful in technical terms, the project failed as a result of the CITES agreement on trade with endangered species. Fisher focused on building neoliberal think tanks all over the world for the remainder of his life; his turtle farm survived as a tourist trap, heavily subsidized by the Cayman government. Combining entrepreneurial candor, neoliberal activism, conservation diplomacy and agricultural subsidies, the career of Antony Fisher provides a unique lens into the multiple dimensions of capitalism after 1945. It also provides a window on the intricacies of commodification during the post-war years.

Author

• Frank Uekotter, University of Birmingham