No Corn, No Country: Mexican Farmers Opposing the North American Free Trade Agreement

Abstract

Mexican agriculture is in a state of crisis. The economic marginalization of small to medium-sized grain farmers is leading to migration, hyper-urbanization and environmentally unsustainable cultivation methods. Many civil society organizations identify free trade agreements (FTAs) as the root of these problems. This paper presents a case study of one such organization, Asociación Nacional de Empresas Comercializadoras de Productores del Campo (ANEC), a co-operative of Mexican grain-growers. ANEC is an active member of La Via Campesina (The Peasant Way), a transnational social movement of 150 smallholder farmers and landless peasant organizations who promote food sovereignty. This paper interrogates how ANEC draws on the master frame of food sovereignty and on the revolutionary character of the Zapatista movement in developing collective action frames that drive local campaigns opposing economic and environmental threats to the health and livelihoods of rural and urban Mexicans.