Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The Peasant Way
The MST's demands for land reform are articulated largely at the national
level, because it is the Brazilian government that has the authority to
expropriate and redistribute land. However, recognizing that neoliberal
models of agriculture are imposed from beyond national borders, the
MST has joined a transnational social movement opposing the economic
liberalization of agriculture, and advocating for an alternative model
based on small-scale farms, peasant agriculture, inclusion, and social
justice. Founded in 1993, La Via Campesina has gained global recogni-
tion for its participation in direct actions opposing corporate globaliza-
tion. Members of this organization have been visible at protests against
the meetings of international monetary institutions such as the IMF and
World Bank. Beyond opposition, La Via Campesina has also participated
in transnational meetings such as the World Food Summit and the World
Social Forum.
Recognizing that neither individual farmers nor national peasant
movements have the capacity to pressure international monetary institu-
tions and to transform the global political order, La Via Campesina is a
transnational network consisting of 148 organizations from 56 coun-
tries. Rafael Alegria, who served as Operational Secretariat from 1996
to 2004, describes the importance of a transnational response:
From the Via Campesina's point of view, the neo-liberal model is causing the
collapse of this . . . peasant economy. It is destroying natural resources, and the
environment. It is also undermining our own peasant movements from around
the world. For this reason, it is very important that we have an international
organization like the Via Campesina. . . . Creating a global response is the very
reason for the Via Campesina's existence. (quoted in Desmarais 2007, 33)
La Via Campesina promotes transnational organization in order to
amplify the voices of its diverse national, regional, and local constituent
movements.
To build unity within this diversity, the Via Campesina has developed
strict processes and policies aimed at holding the international organiza-
tion accountable to its members. The Via Campesina is divided into eight
regions, each of which elects one man and one woman to a sixteen-
member International Coordinating Commission. Additionally, every
few years, delegates from all regions gather to determine the movement's
general direction, policies and strategies. Thus far, four meetings have
been held on four different continents. International gatherings are pre-
ceded by regional ones, in which coordinators survey the interests and
positions of their constituents. This model is designed to privilege local
