Between institutional reform and building popular movements: The political articulation of agroecology in Brazil. (January 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Van den Berg, L.; Behagel, J.H.; Verschoor, G.; Petersen, P.; Gomes da Silva, M.
• Is Part Of: Journal of rural studies. Volume 89(2022)
• Page Start: 140
• Page End: 148
• Publication Date: 2022-01
• Subjects: Politics -- Transformation -- Scaling -- Peasantry -- Social movements -- Agroecology; Sociology, Rural -- Periodicals; Country life -- Periodicals; Rural development -- Periodicals; Land use, Rural -- Planning -- Periodicals; Rural conditions -- Periodicals; Sociologie rurale -- Périodiques; Vie rurale -- Périodiques; Développement rural -- Périodiques; Sol, Utilisation agricole du -- Planification -- Périodiques; Conditions rurales -- Périodiques; Country life; Land use, Rural -- Planning; Rural conditions; Rural development; Sociology, Rural; Periodicals; 307.72
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.11.016
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0743-0167

Abstract

Abstract: Agroecology is increasingly seen to contain solutions that can be used for wider societal transformation. While debates have mainly focused on reformist versus revolutionary strategies, less attention has been paid to how such strategies connect to peasant demands and how they can be combined for agroecological transformation. In this article we study transformation by the agroecology movement in Brazil through the theoretical lens of political articulation. We show that peasants' local demands for land, alternative farming and local markets were mobilised in an institutional politics to gain policy support and in a populist politics to create movements that pose a systemic challenge to authority. We then argue that the political viability of wider societal transformation lies in the ability to create movements and organisations that politicise peasants and embrace local demands. We conclude that attention should not only be paid to individual strategies and their immediate effects but also on how diverse politics combine, to build the material and symbolic capacity of the movement and their potential for transformation over the long run. Highlights: The potential of populist politics lies in its ability to create movements that politicise people and embrace local demands. Reformist and radical politics combine to build the long-term capacity of agroecology movements for transformation. The politics of agroecology encompasses democratic struggles by Indigenous people, Blacks and environmentalists.