Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
organizationsmayneedtoactdiferentlywithintheirownnationalandregionalcon-
texts(RossetandMartínez-Torres2005,A1.31;Desmarais2007,135-160).
Lastly,LVC'semphasison gender equality itself plays into the building of a defensi-
blelifespace.AlthoughitisclearthatLVCdoesnotapproachgenderfromaninstru-
mentaliststandpoint—thatis,itdoesnotappeartosupportgenderequality because it
isconnectedwithlowerhouseholdmalnutrition(e.g.,SmithandHaddad2000)—itis
nevertheless the case that interventions increasing the status of women are connected
to a number of positive developments, including increased agricultural productivity.
Gender equality clearly advances the goals of autonomy, defensible and sustainable live-
lihoods, and democracy alongside the inherent normative value of such equality itself
(Agarwal,thisvolume).
Conclusion
Essentially,movementslikeLaVíaCampesinamay,atbase,beseenasmovementsfor
fulfilling the promises of democracy. Not just democracy in the form of nominal rep-
resentation, electoral, or procedural rights, but the fulfillment of human dignities and
rights. Further, defensible values as articulated by these movements rest on an implicit
understanding that there is no democracy without capabilities ( sensu Sen1992),andthat
such capabilities must be guaranteed by a strong civil society in ongoing discourse, and
perhaps tension, with the state.
heparalleltensionswithinthemovementandoutsideofit—conlictingidentities,
issues of representation, countries or regions without member groups, and heterogene-
itywithinmembersatsubnationallevels—havenotbeenextensivelydealtwithhere.
Borraset al.(2008)noteseveralimportantandsurprising“silencesintheliterature”of
transnational agrarian movements, including a lack of analyses of their internal dynam-
ics, and of the true dynamics of interconnectivity between international, national, and
locallevelsofexistingmovements(10-12).heyalsonotethatthecontentiousques-
tionofrepresentationisunderanalyzedbymovementleaders,activists,andacademics.
Instead,tomakethecomplexitiesmanageable,“agreatmanyimportantdetailstendto
betakenforgrantedormissedintheanalysisanddiscoursethat[transnationalagrarian
movements]produce”(17).Class,race,andrestrictiveorprescriptivenotionsofidentity
make it difficult to truly represent a large and diverse class such as “peasants,” much less
theruralpoormorebroadly.Whileitisofcourseinanymovement'sinteresttoclaim
as broad a representation as possible, most transnational agrarian movements lack any
large presence in many areas of the world, “notably Russia, Central Asia, the Middle East
andNorthAfricaregion,andmostespeciallyChina”(14)—areasthathostmuchofthe
world'sruralpoor.Further,theconstituencythatLVCseeksandclaimstorepresent,by
itsverynature,meansthatmanyofLVC'smemberorganizationswillbesomethingof
cipherstotheacademicworld: amovementseekingtorepresenttheworld'sruralpoor
is simultaneously a movement of people and places lacking easy access to the rest of the
 
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