Peasant Movements in Latin America: Looking Back, Moving Ahead

Issued Editors: Bernardo Mançano Fernandes and Cliff Welch

Through their actions and discourse, the rural poor throughout Latin America tell us that the peasantry is alive, vigorous, and anxious to struggle against the massive transformations unleashed by several decades of capitalist expansion and production intensification in the countryside. While classical political economists and Marxists alike imagined capitalist development turning the peasantry extinct, their theories made it difficult to observe the appeal of the land and the viability of peasant models of development. This issue will examine, root and branch, the rise and prospects of these recent rural social movements in Latin America.

Politically-engaged rural social movements of dispossessed farmers, farm laborers, and the urban poor have formed to challenge national development schemes that favor land concentration, intensive agricultural techniques, and the continued marginalization of the working class. Some, like the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra (Landless Workers' Movement-MST) in Brazil, have already entered their second generation and combine grassroots movement practices with the institutional administration of non-governmental organizations. While distinct in name and practice, other significant organizations in this line are the MPP (Peasant Movement of Papaye) in Haiti, the UNORCA (National Union of Regional Autonomous Peasant Organizations) in Mexico, and the ATC (Rural Workers Association) of Nicaragua. Many are affiliated with the internationalist Via Campesina, headquartered in Honduras. Each shares a sharp critique of the new wave of capitalist development now welcomed by neoliberal reforms of international trade and property law. While confronting the unquestioned development of agribusiness, a concept that has come to signify the American-model of highly-capitalized and intensive exploitation of vast tracts of land, the new peasant movements defend sustainable agriculture, reduced land concentration, reduced dependency on ecology destroying inputs, the valorization of indigenous inputs such as native seeds, the creation of rural employment, and participatory democracy.

To understand the (re)formation of Latin American peasant movements, it is important to look back at historical and geographical processes. What were past peasant movements like and how do contemporary movements differ from them? What happened to these movements and what light does this shed on the prospects of contemporary movements? What contributed to the rise of the former movements and how do contemporary factors differ? How does the internal and external structure of the contemporary movements differ from former ones? How were questions of gender, generation, and ethnicity dealt with then and how are they handled now? Were past movements appendages of political parties; are they now? Where did they appear before and how does that differ from where they appear in the present? How have changing patterns of technological innovation and foreign investment affected the practices and location of peasant movements over time? How have the international alliances and perspectives of peasant movements changed over the years? How has their relationship to agrarian reform changed?

To appreciate the significance of these movements, it is also useful to look at their present day practices and visions for the future. Are the movements focused on the protection of local, traditional interests or do they have a national transformation agenda? Are they capitalist in orientation and practice or socialist? How do these visions work on the ground? Do they count mainly on representatives, state agencies and the judiciary to resolve problems or do they utilize civil disobedience, direct action, media manipulation, or armed struggle to accomplish their goals? What is their relationship to market-oriented agrarian reforms, such as World Bank initiatives to strengthen "family agriculture"? What alternative models of development do they use-cooperatives, council leadership, organic produce-and how well do they work? If they value innovative organizational structures, such as gender or age balance, how well does practice align with theory? Some movements claim to be revolutionary-how does this ambition play out in the 21st century?

Suggested Article Topics
Case studies of peasant movement history in distinct regions, states or countries
Analysis of contemporary peasant responses to globalization processes
Analysis of historical roots of contemporary peasant movements
Analysis of geographical influences on peasant political formation
Examination of peasants and international trade and agricultural policies and investments
Examination of international peasant alliances and movements like the Via Campesina Case studies on the use of international law as a new "weapon of the weak"
Examination of relationships between indigenous and peasant movements
Examination of the relationship between peasant movements and NGOs, such as environmental groups
Examination of peasant movements and neoliberal agrarian reform policies
Case studies of alternative agriculture models, such as co-ops and organic farming
Analysis of "new" internal relationships of peasant organizations, such as their approaches to hierarchy, gender roles and youth participation
Consideration of peasant movements as political movements
Analysis of theoretical literature on the peasantry in Latin America, such as conflicts between the idea of the peasant and idea of the family farmer and between peasant models of development and agribusiness
Analysis of literature on contemporary peasant political formation in Latin America
Historiography of peasant movements in the Americas
Critical reviews of films on peasant militancy

This issue is being coordinated by Bernardo Mançano Fernandes and Cliff Welch. Prospective contributors should feel fee to communicate with them at the following addresses:

 Bernardo Mançano Fernandes: bmfunesp@terra.com.br
 Cliff Welch: welchc@gvsu.edu 

Manuscripts should be no longer than 25 pages of double-spaced text in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. If possible, submit two copies along with a cover sheet and basic biographical information. With these items, we also require that the manuscript be sent on a CD-R, by e-mail, or on a floppy disk if the other formats are not available. The LAP style guide is available on request or online.

Please send any manuscript submissions to:
Managing Editor, Latin American Perspectives¸ P.O. Box 5703, Riverside, California 92517-5703