Peasants' rights and agrarian violence in transitional settings: From transitional justice to transformative agrarian justice

Eric T Hoddy

doi:10.1080/14754835.2020.1850242

Abstract

This article addresses why the rights of peasants and agrarian violence matter to justice promotion work that seeks to lay the groundwork for future peace and stability. Its central contention is that although rural people have participated in transitional justice processes, the field is yet to engage with peasants as a distinct social group, with the social, economic, and political issues they face, and with agrarian structures and processes that underlie ongoing violence against them. The article argues that peasant rights and agrarian violence matter in light of four rural trends: Peasants in post-transition societies are routinely exposed to complex patterns of direct and indirect nonwar violence; justice interventions may be expected in societies in which there have been large-scale agrarian protests; the root causes of conflict are frequently located in structures and processes of agrarian change; and rural grievances associated with poverty and marginalization are facilitating and enabling the rise of authoritarian populism. The article reflects on the demands these trends create for research and practice, arguing that developing responses to agrarian violence favors a radical, more transformative approach to agrarian justice that engages with wider agrarian political economies and issues of class and gender.

Highlights

In December 2018, the UN General Assembly adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP)
Its central contention is that rural people have participated in transitional justice processes, the field is yet to engage with peasants as a distinct social group, with the social, economic, and political issues they face, and with agrarian structures and processes that underlie ongoing violence against them
The article argues that peasant rights and agrarian violence matter in light of four rural trends: Peasants in post-transition societies are routinely exposed to complex patterns of direct and indirect nonwar violence; justice interventions may be expected in societies in which there have been large-scale agrarian protests; the root causes of conflict are frequently located in structures and processes of agrarian change; and rural grievances associated with poverty and marginalization are facilitating and enabling the rise of authoritarian populism

Summary

Introduction

In December 2018, the UN General Assembly adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP). The article begins by situating the dearth of literature on peasants and their rights in transitional justice in relation to recent developments in the field It discusses how the content of UNDROP responds to issues associated with changes to rural society and economy, expressed in terms of new rights that reflect the indivisibility of political, economic, and social concerns. The field has yet to acknowledge or view as relevant to practice the social, economic, and political issues peasants face on account of their group status and the agrarian structures and processes that underlie individual and collective experiences of violence.

Conclusion

Findings

Notes on contributor