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Transnational peasant and farmer movements and
networks
This chapter addresses the question: 'Who speaks for the peasant
and farmer, and through what political processes are such claims
to legitimacy established or contested?' Edelman charts the history
of regional and transnational peasant networks in their struggle
to influence high-level policy in their favour. He points out that
although such networks in fact predate modern technology, they have
nevertheless mushroomed over the past two decades in response to
the 'worldwide farm crisis'. He concludes:
- To an extent, the networks have allowed the farmers themselves
to have a powerful political voice: 'participants in the peasant
and farmer networks have also come to have a dynamic sense of
themselves as political actors, empowered with new knowledge,
conceptions of solidarity and tools of struggle, and surprisingly
unlike the sophisticated rustics that urban elites often imagine
them to be'.
- There is an underlying tension between the transnational and
regional dimensions. This leads him to suggest that as more countries
become more democratic, then national-level action will become
an increasingly viable option for campaigners - whereas previously
they were forced to enter the transnational arena in order to
be heard. Campaigning on a national level is functionally and
conceptually simpler and hence the already visible trend of regional
retrenchment among peasant networks.
- He invokes Riles (2001) in stressing the inherent contradictions
within the concept of a 'network'. Networks, says Riles, are 'both
a means to an end and an end in itself'. Thus there is a tendency
for networks to focus not on tangible impacts, but rather simply
on the exercise of validating their own existence.
- Finally, he reminds us that although transnational peasant networks
have made great strides in terms of representing themselves on
the world stage, the challenge that they face is nevertheless
huge and, as yet, their power is far too meagre to really shape
the macro-policies that govern their livelihoods.
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