Open Chair of the National Indigenous Peasant Movement - We Are Land (MNCI-ST)
Seeds of Resistance in Latin America
This open lecture series is the product of the militant efforts of the Argentine peasant movement and the tireless work of CLACSO to foster a genuine dialogue of knowledge and to recover the voices of the disputed territories in our region, particularly in Argentina, within the framework of an international struggle for peasant rights. It consists of four modules that aim to provide a theoretical and political overview of the state of peasant struggles in Argentina and Latin America. The objectives of this forum are related to understanding the enduring relevance of the agrarian question and the defense of land from the perspective of Indigenous and Latin American peasant communities, based on the empirical study of Peasant Rights. Throughout these sessions, discussions are held from the ground up, addressing issues such as the right to land and water, the right to production, food sovereignty, agroecology, and the right to education in rural areas.
Historical memory of the MNCI-ST and peasant rights
In this class, we will explore the history of the peasant struggle in Latin America, focusing on the politicization process that has taken place in Argentina since the late 20th and early 21st centuries. We will hear the voices of comrades who have led this struggle for the rights of those who live and work in the countryside. Throughout this historical overview, you will see how the memory of agrarian and peasant resistance strengthens the demand for LAND, WATER, FOOD, and EDUCATION for rural communities.
Food for thought: How are the peasantry and the people who live in our rural areas organized today?
Suggested readings
MNCI Dossier We Are Earth https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kizfLTZ0ySddfOQtGV1oaiwXt5w7rHa7/view
Soto, Oscar. Peasantry and Counter-Hegemony: Political Nature and Resistance in Popular Movements in Latin America https://editorialelcolectivo.com/producto/campesinado-y-contrahegemonia/
Introductory booklet DDC Via Campesinas https://viacampesina.org/es/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/12/LVC-ES-Booklet-UNDROP-RGB_lowres.pdf
The right to water and the struggle for territory
Most land ownership is concentrated in the hands of a few: corporations or producers engaged in agribusiness. Agribusiness promotes the monoculture of soybeans and other cash crops for export. Only a small percentage of the population directly benefits from the current agricultural model: less than 3% of producers control half of the production. The lack of public policies to protect family, peasant, and Indigenous agriculture undermines our ways of life and the food sovereignty of the population. In this chapter, we hear firsthand the demands for land and water in our rural areas.
Food for thought: What is more valuable: the right to private property or access to clean water, decent housing, and pathways to a better life? What is the situation in your territories?
Suggested readings
Booklet 2 Via Campesina https://viacampesina.org/es/cartilla-tematica-n2-derechos-campesinos-y-produccion-de-alimentos-ya-disponible/#
Defense Guide https://derechoscampesinos.org.ar/assets/pdfs/guia_mnci.pdf
Right to production: food sovereignty and agroecology
This class explores Indigenous farming as an ancestral culture, inseparable from the land. Here, we produce healthy food for the community, conserve seeds, maintain a way of life on the land, and ensure food sovereignty for our society. We delve into a form of production and social relations—in other words, a culture. This ancestral way of producing food ensures biodiversity, the care of native forests, waterways, the land, and its natural cycles.
Food for thought: What are the current challenges facing food sovereignty in our territories? How much has agroecology advanced in recent years?
Suggested readings
Booklet 3 Via Campesina
https://viacampesina.org/es/vida-digna-y-medios-de-subsistencia-cartilla-tematica-n3-ya-disponible/
Atlas of food systems
https://rosalux-ba.org/2022/07/19/atlas-de-los-sistemas-alimentarios-del-cono-sur/
Right to Education in the countryside
This class addresses the concept of education as a political project within the framework of the struggle of peasant movements in Latin America. It reconstructs the emergence of the pedagogical question within the Latin American Coordination of Rural Organizations of La Vía Campesina and focuses on the experience of the CEFIC-Somos Tierra Peasant School of Agroecology, part of the MNCI-ST (National Indigenous Peasant Movement – Somos Tierra). We explore the various training challenges faced by peasant organizations in their struggle for an alternative production model and the role of education in making visible the "other countryside that feeds us."
Food for thought: What actions should we take to build a popular rural education in our territories? What are the necessary connections between popular knowledge and our universities?
Suggested readings
Booklet 4 Via Campesina https://viacampesina.org/es/undrop-lxs-campesinxs-como-sujetos-politicos-cartilla-tematica-n4-ya-disponible
Soto, O., Peterle, R., Bonomo, C., & Greco, M. (2022). Geopedagogy and peasant struggle: Contributions to critical extension from educational processes in Mendoza, Argentina. Saber es Y prácticas. Revista De Filosofía Y Educación, 7(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.48162/rev.36.052
TO CLOSE
To continue reflecting, we offer you two questions that we will share:
Do Latin American peasants and indigenous peoples have anything to contribute to addressing the current global ecological and civilizational crisis?
What are the urgent agendas that we, the organized rural territories, together with research spaces, the social sciences, and academia in general, must build?
General Bibliography
Introductory booklet DDC Via Campesinas https://viacampesina.org/es/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/12/LVC-ES-Booklet-UNDROP-RGB_lowres.pdf
MNCI Dossier – We Are Earth https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kizfLTZ0ySddfOQtGV1oaiwXt5w7rHa7/view
Soto, Oscar. Peasantry and Counter-Hegemony: Political Nature and Resistance in Popular Movements in Latin America https://editorialelcolectivo.com/producto/campesinado-y-contrahegemonia/
Introductory booklet DDC Via Campesinas https://viacampesina.org/es/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/12/LVC-ES-Booklet-UNDROP-RGB_lowres.pdf
Diffusion kit
