Anything but a story foretold: multiple politics of resistance to the agrarian extractivist project in Guatemala

Abstract

Sugarcane and oil palm agribusinesses are in the vanguard of an emergent project of agrarian capitalism in Guatemala, which is defined here as a financialized and flexible type of agrarian extractivism. Meanwhile, Maya-Q´eqchi´ residents of the northern lowlands believe that the changes in the labor regime, land relations and the agro-ecosystem that the expansion of these agribusinesses has brought threatens their subsistence in multiple and unfamiliar ways. Indeed, growing difficulties in dealing with (vital) grievances is leading many, even those who initially welcomed the corporate sugarcane and oil palm plantations, to transform their unrest into a practice of resistance. Elaborating on what is presented here as a multiple politics perspective, this article discusses the nature and character of such contemporary political dynamics of agrarian change. The forms, strategies, and practices of the two main and most antagonistic repertoires of contention are explored here: the one in "defense of territory" and the one in the promotion of the "agrarian extractivist project". The tensions across and within multiple corporate, state and social actors who are pushing for, resisting, complying with, or operating at the most violent margins of the agrarian extractivist project are also examined. By assessing continuities and ruptures between current and previous cycles of contention around the control of land, water and other natural resources, this article stresses the often-forgotten lesson about trajectories of agrarian change not being a story foretold, but the product of multiple and dynamic politics.

Commons Movements: Old and New Trends in Rural and Urban Contexts

“…The relation between social movements and CBNRM is not unidirectional. Existing CBNRM, rights and management institutions can be repurposed or used as stepping stones to organize, legitimize, and sustain environmental justice mobilizations oriented to defending community livelihoods (85,(173)(174)(175)(176)(177). This has been observed mostly in the rural context and at local levels.…”

“…This is done through "small, local, collective organs of popular control" such as factory councils and neighborhood assemblies (p. broader political projects. For instance, the strengthening of indigenous communal land governance can be perceived as part of the everyday tactics of contention in local struggles against extractivist projects (174). At the same time, strengthening and diversifying communal economies, autonomy, and local democratic practices for commons governance helps communities to stay in place and to mobilize broader popular support to promote alternative visions of rural development (239).…”

Outgrower schemes and sugar value-chains in Zambia: Rethinking determinants of rural inclusion and exclusion

“…How divergences among affected community members and how differentiated farmers respond differently to emerging value-chains is central to this research. Recent efforts reveal complicated trajectories of political reactions from below to LaSAIs, which is mixed and more dynamic (McAllister 2015;Alonso-Fradejas 2015). Local community members do not always resist value-chain expansion: they adapt and welcome changes to land-use and land-control (Mamonova 2015).…”

The Tenure Guidelines in Policy and Practice: Democratizing Land Control in Guatemala

“…Salaries are not sufficient, they said, and conditions inside are squalid at best (meeting with the community of Sachaj, 1 April 2015). Wage and labor conditions and arrangements in the Guatemalan oil palm industry are unstable, and often below international standards [60]). Reflecting on the situation, one community member explained how the oil palm company has created a situation of dependency.…”

“…There are well-documented examples both at national and regional scales, making the case for the consideration of family farmers as powerful economic actors, instead of either as 'inefficient' or social actors deserving only social funds from the government. Nationally, family farmers contribute to employment, and regionally, peasant-to-peasant agroecological exchanges and public marketplaces encourage modern family farming, as those practices have historically been Guatemala's life source [60]. These two strategies include complementary tools already being used on the ground and promoted by grassroots organizations that can be further developed with increased public support, from strengthening rural extension services to lifting up community organizing.…”