What's left?

Abstract

With the victory of capitalism and the end of the Cold War, almost all countries in the global south, including those still calling themselves “communist,” have become “transition” countries, competing to attract foreign direct investment and reform according to the strictures of global capitalism. Particularly interesting cases of “transition” are those states that explicitly legitimize their rule in terms of communist ideals, the general alliance of peasants and workers toward an egalitarian society, and whose ideological pillars historically include a pro-poor re- distributive land reform.

Acaparamiento de tierras y acumulación por desposesión en Colombia. El caso de las Zonas de Desarrollo Rural, Económico y Social (ZIDRES)

“…Desde principios de los años noventa se ha verificado una expansión de áreas en las que se desarrollan actividades agrícolas corporativas que usan tecnología de punta y tienen altas tasas de retorno, principalmente en los países del sureste asiático. Estas áreas, frecuentemente denominadas Zonas Económicas Especiales (ZEE) pueden localizarse tanto cerca como lejos de los centros urbanos y se caracterizan por convertir viejos espacios económicos en unos más renovados, así como por el desplazamiento de los campesinos de sus tierras (Steur & Das, 2009), situación que a menudo ha provocado resistencia violenta. En todo caso, voces oficiales han justificado este tipo de iniciativas para apalancar el crecimiento económico, supeditado a la atracción de inversión extranjera, que solo puede instalarse si recibe concesiones y subsidios (Banerjee-Guha, 2008).…”

Smallholder bargaining power in large-scale land deals: a relational perspective

“…governments favoring smallholdings or plantations) and political regime (e.g. decentralized electoral democracy or centralized authoritarian rule) (see also Steur and Das 2009).…”

The Politics of Land, Consent, and Negotiation: Revisiting the Development-Displacement Narratives from Singur in West Bengal

“…With the triumph of capitalism in the post-Cold War era, most countries in the global South embarked on a path of 'transition', initiating economic reforms and attracting foreign investment according to the strictures of global capitalism (Steur & Das 2009). Particularly interesting amongst such 'transition' cases are countries that explicitly legitimise their rule in terms of communist ideals, the general alliance of peasants and workers toward an egalitarian society, and whose ideological pillars include a pro-poor redistributive land reform (Steur & Das 2009).…”

“…Particularly interesting amongst such 'transition' cases are countries that explicitly legitimise their rule in terms of communist ideals, the general alliance of peasants and workers toward an egalitarian society, and whose ideological pillars include a pro-poor redistributive land reform (Steur & Das 2009). This paper highlights one such case in the Indian state of West Bengal, and recounts a story of land struggle and unrest in Singur (a small cluster of villages) between 2006 and 2008, as a thousand acres of prime arable land was forcibly acquired by the government for an automobile factory, much along the trend in contemporary capitalism that David Harvey (2005) conceptualises as the shift in emphasis from expanded reproduction to accumulation by dispossession.…”