Latin American Centre Seminars: CANCELLED: The Land Question in Latin America: Old and New Challenges

Convener: Diego Sánchez Ancochea

Speaker: Elisa Botella, Universidad of Salamanca

Unfortunately due to a last minute problem, Dr Elisa Botella will not be able to come to Oxford this week.  As a result, her seminar on Wednesday at 12.45pm has been cancelled.

Many apologies for the inconvenience.  

Land concentration is an historical and structural problem in Latin America, the most unequal region worldwide. Since the early 1900s, land inequality has been the root of struggles and revolutions in the subcontinent. Mexico during the Revolution (La Tierra para quien la Trabaja claimed by Emiliano Zapata), the Cuban Revolution or the MST in Brazil showed some of these problems in rural areas. The Global Food Crisis (2007-2008) reopened the debate on land redistribution and the role of small farmers to produce food for national consumption.

In this context, the paper reviews important past and present questions on agrarian and rural development in Latin America, building a conversation between ‘the old and new agrarian question’ in the region based on a threefold  pillar: a) the old agrarian question in Latin America: growth with equity, small farmers versus latifundia and land reforms ‘from above’ (1960-70); b) globalisation and agriculture in Latin America: new opportunities and challenges, market-led reforms versus land reforms ‘from below’  (1990-2015); and 3) the new agrarian question: globalisation, transnational peasant movements and food sovereignty.