Struggle For Land Research Articles

Thirsty water carriers: the production of uneven waterscapes in Sahl al-Battuf

ABSTRACT This paper provides an overview of settler-colonial imaginaries of water and how they have cast the area of Sahl al-Battuf as the imagined site of a reservoir and a critical junction for the realisation of the Israeli National Water Carrier. Focusing on the events surrounding the construction of this project, I show how Palestinians inside Israel, at that time living under Israeli military rule, engaged with the state to protest and negotiate their claims over land and water. The findings reveal how settler-colonial imaginaries produce uneven waterscapes and have an enduring impact on Palestinian environmental imaginaries. Narrating and analysing water histories from below allows for a better exploration of indigenous opposition and reclamation of their water use and management. Palestinian struggles for water and land reveal how such mobilisation was shaped by the state’s relationship with its estranged Palestinian populations in the midst of citizenship claims, and therefore show how such resource struggles were being constituted through water as a vessel for making claims of recognition.

Attachment to place and territoriality in Nandigram land struggle, India

The Nandigram peasant struggle against land acquisition for special economic zones (SEZs) in West Bengal, India, in 2006–2007, highlights the importance of attachment to place and territorialization in resistance. Analyzing the Nandigram land struggle, I underscore the importance of place-based attachment. I argue that land is a social relation. The land acquisition was a threat of breakage in that place-based relation, which led to negative perceptions of industrialization. This threat pronounced the existing attachment to place, which led to the spatialization of the muktanchal or liberated zone. I conceptualize the muktanchal as an act of territoriality, where militant peasant identities emerged that facilitated their claim-making. This paper uses content analysis of existing primary data from heterogeneous sources, to illuminate how the peasants strategically created the muktanchal to contest top-down attempts by the state to create a SEZ enclave.

A luta pela terra e as políticas públicas territoriais no espaço agrário amazônico: uma reflexão a partir do assentamento Mártires de Abril em Belém

This article aims to discuss public management and peasantry in the Amazon and its importance to Brazilian society as well as the struggle for land and the impacts of social movements in the construction and occupation of territories. Using as object of research the settlement martyrs of April located in Mosqueiro in the municipality of Belém that represents a relevant perspective for agrarian reform pointing out the main difficulties of the settlement against the lack of power To peasant family farming. The aim of this research is to discuss the need for greater public power investments in the family farming sector, which is increasingly shown as the main food producer for the Brazilian population, in addition to discussing throughout this text the Importance of settlements for the implementation of agrarian reform.

SABERES, TRAJETÓRIAS E ESPAÇO SOCIAL: cartografia da alteridade e etnografia reflexiva entre comunidades quilombolas

A pesquisa a priori se propôs realizar um esboço etnográfico das quatro comunidades quilombolas no médio sertão maranhense, atentando para os elementos intrínsecos da produção de conhecimentos. Como suporte metodológico, as interlocuções seguiram pelo viés dos estudos que privilegiam as alteridades e os saberes locais como pressupostos analíticos fundamentais. Nessa perspectiva, procuramos nos afastar da maioria dos estudos voltados para comunidades quilombolas que trazem como abordagem central, as lutas fundiárias, o reconhecimento por direitos, no entanto, compreendemos que essas abordagens são fundamentais como marco de compreensão das lutas políticas. As comunidades quilombolas aqui pesquisadas somente foram certificadas pela Fundação Palmares no ano 2006, porém há mais de meio século essas comunidades mantém entre si relações de sociabilidade e intercâmbios culturais. Não obstante, a nossa busca de conhecimento está pautada nos saberes, nas trajetórias e nas concepções de espaço social (território) referenciado na alteridade. Dessa forma, procuraremos captar os processos de criatividade cosmopolítica, sociocosmológica e antropológica, dando ênfase para as suas próprias elaboração e construção de conceitos. Para esse fim, o trabalho de campo foi um instrumental metodológico de suma importância, aliado a outras metodologias, por exemplo, a história oral, a etnohistória e os cuidados com a linguagem local, elementos fundamentais inerentes às ciências sociais. Palavras-chave: Quilombolas, Cosmopolítica, médio sertão maranhense.

The Advocacy Coalition Framework Approach to Row House Policy in Tamansari, Bandung City

Conflicts between Governance actors are rife in the era of democracy as it is today. The purpose of this study is to analyze the problems of land conflicts faced by the community against the Bandung City Government which is in a joint coalition with PT Sartonia Agung. Those two parties had a dispute over land rights in RW 11 Tamansari to control the basis of rights for housing and the construction of Row House. The struggle of each party in the struggle for land in RW 11 Tamansari was carried out through an advocacy process with both formal and informal approaches. The Advocacy Coalition Framework in this study was used as a knife for analyzing the phenomena that occurred. The research methods used in this study were qualitative research by standing on the interpretative paradigm. The data were collected by conducting observations, in-depth interviews, and documentation relating to the outline of the research. The findings obtained from this study indicated that there was a formation of strong coalition domination by the government through aggressive and repressive behavior that raised a conflict of interest in the row house construction policy in Tamansari Subdistrict, Bandung City, which was rejected by the Coalition of the Tamansari community that was formed. The series of advocacy carried out by the Tamansari community coalition had not produced results in favor of the coalition that urged a change in the policy.

Fictitious commodification and agrarian change: Indigenous peoples and land markets in Highland Ecuador

AbstractCreating private property rights and establishing land markets were fundamental to the historical development of capitalism in the Global North and remain at the centre of capitalist development in the Global South. This article contributes to debates about these processes by analysing the relationship between land markets and indigenous peoples in Highland Ecuador. Building on Karl Polanyi's concept of fictitious commodities, it elaborates a new concept that makes an analytical distinction between the activation and development of land markets. The former refers to the occasional participation of actors in markets to secure land, whereas the latter relates to the establishment and expansion of markets that regulate the distribution and value of land through market prices. Focusing on indigenous land struggles in the late 20th century, this article shows that the activation of land markets created opportunities for indigenous peasants to secure land, whereas the development of land markets closed them down. Social and class differentiation among the highland indigenous population increased through this contradictory process. The article connects this historical analysis to recent developments in Ecuador to contribute to empirical and theoretical debates about contemporary land struggles and agrarian change elsewhere in the Global South.

“We Will Re-distribute Land When You Vote Us into Power…” Electoral Politics and Peasant Struggles Amidst Unresolved Land Question in Southern Malawi

The people of tea growing districts of Thyolo and Mulanje have been at constant loggerheads with estate owners for decades now. The borne of contention is that the tea estates own huge thatches of land and utilize less than 50% for plantation agriculture while the majority remain land-poor. The objective of the research was to understand the role of political parties in supporting or resisting land reform initiatives in Thyolo and Mulanje, Malawi. Political Parties in Malawi since 1994 have promised to redistribute land to peasants, but little action has been taken on the same. Using qualitative research approach, data was collected from peasants, local leaders, political parties and other secondary sources. Four main political party manifestos were studied: Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Malawi Congress Party (MCP), United Transformation Movement (UTM); and United Democratic Front UDF). The study finds out that political parties in Malawi uses the land struggle to woo votes from the electorates; promise them land redistribution and after they get into power the issue is forgotten. Party Manifestos from 1994 to 2019 have either included the issue in their blueprint, or omitted entirely. The study finds out that during the 2019 tripartite elections, no single party outlined what procedure it would use to free up land in the estate lands. This paper suggests that a successful reform in the area starts with political will within the ruling party, with governing institutions having a carefully mapped plan on how they would go about land reform; rather than mere propaganda on the matter. DOI: 10.7176/DCS/10-5-08 Publication date: May 31 st 2020

The Chamorro Creation Story, Guam Land Struggles, and Contemporary Poetry

AbstractThis essay focuses on the creation story of the Indigenous Chamorro people from the western Pacific Island of Guam. The essay presents and analyzes the deeper meaning of the story of Puntan and Fu’una as they birth the island of Guam and the Chamorro people. Moreover, it maps the history of Catholic missionization that displaced and replaced the Chamorro creation story. The essay covers the related issue of how colonization removed Chamorros from their ancestral lands and appropriated these lands for imperial, military, tourism, and urban development. Then it highlights the decades-long struggle of Chamorro activists to reclaim the land. Lastly, it turns to contemporary Chamorro poetry to illustrate how authors have revitalized and retold the story of Puntan and Fu’una to critique and protest the degradation of Chamorro lands and to advocate for the protection and return of the land.

The FPIC Principle Meets Land Struggles in Cambodia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea

Social and environmental safeguards are now commonplace in policies and procedures that apply to certain kinds of foreign investment in developing countries. Prominent amongst these is the principle of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), which is commonly tied to policies and procedures relating to investments that have an impact on ‘indigenous peoples’. This paper treats international safeguards as a possible manifestation of what Karl Polanyi called the ‘double movement’ in the operation of a capitalist market economy. Our concern here is with the way that the FPIC principle has been applied in struggles over the alienation of land and associated natural resources claimed by indigenous peoples or customary landowners in three developing countries—Cambodia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Case studies of recent land struggles in these countries are used to illustrate the existence of a spectrum in which the application of the FPIC principle may contribute more or less to the defence of customary rights. On one hand, it may be little more than a kind of ‘performance’ that simply adds some extra value to a newly created commodity. On the other hand, it may sometimes enable local or indigenous communities and their allies in ‘civil society’ to mount an effective defence of their rights in opposition to the processes of alienation or commodification. The paper finds that all three countries have political regimes and national policy frameworks that are themselves resistant to the imposition of social and environmental safeguards by foreign investors or international financial institutions. However, they differ widely in the extent to which they make institutional space for the FPIC principle to become the site of a genuine double movement of the kind that Polanyi envisaged.

Terra, trabalho e dinheiro: dilemas e tensões da condição camponesa no assentamento Santa Helena

Neste artigo discutiremos o fenômeno da luta pela terra como meio de vida e condição camponesa no Brasil, constituindo-se enquanto prática social geradora de processos educativos que conformam formas de ser e de agir ao mundo dos sujeitos assentados, instituindo experiências de vida individuais e coletivas condicionadas por tal realidade. Nosso foco de investigação voltou-se para a compreensão das tensões vivenciadas nos últimos anos desta década pelos/as agricultores/as orgânicos/as do Assentamento “Projeto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Santa Helena”, implantado em 2005 no município da São Carlos/SP. Por meio da análise fenomenológica dos dados coletados em campo, discutimos aspectos relacionados às formas de trabalho engendradas no assentamento, às relações comerciais e financeiras estabelecidas pelos agricultores/as em seu cotidiano de vida e à forma com que significam o manejo orgânico da terra. Argumentamos que tais experiências educativas se expressam e são marcadas presentemente pelo processo continuado de recriação de constrangimentos sociais que em parte caracteriza a realidade dos assentamentos rurais contemporâneos.

Land disputes on the outskirts of Istanbul: a unique case of legalization amidst demolitions and forced evictions

This paper focuses on struggles for land by ordinary people in globalizing cities. By drawing on three cases in Istanbul, it explores the circumstances under which these struggles can be successful. It analyses the evolution of the self-built settlements of Ayazma, Yakacık and Hürriyet and their varied outcomes, from legalization to razing. Three conditions seem to explain why land titling was obtained in Yakacık and proved impossible elsewhere. One is specific to land ownership. The second reason revolves around the mediating role and political commitment of a district municipality, primarily through the engagement of one of its decision-makers in favour of poor residents. The third reason relates to the nature and form of Yakacık residents’ mobilization and organizations. All of these conditions are essential; none is sufficient individually. The difficulty of bringing all these conditions together at one time and in one place explains the exceptional nature of the case in point.

The politics of youth struggles for land in post-land reform Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT The youth in post-land reform Zimbabwe are engaged in struggles for land ownership, access and control. This article focuses on youth struggles from the grassroots to the national level. The struggles for land emanate from a number of factors among which are: elite alienation, the state’s failure to exercise its constitutional mandate of a broad-based land reform, weak economic structure, the conflation of party and state politics, political opportunity calculations and social justice concerns. The conflation of party and state politics has exacerbated the use of land for patronage purposes and led to further youth disenfranchisement and more parochialism, as demonstrated by the narrowing of the youth’s national struggle for land to a party political matter. This has subordinated youth land struggles to the dictates of party politics. Youth in the rural areas unable to access productive land embarked on informal land occupation as they waited for unfulfilled promises from the authorities. The youth struggles are at a crossroads as the state’s narrative, discourse and policy position shifts under a new administration and economic order premised on neoliberalism.

Indians, Communists, and Guerrillas

In this article we address the ways in which the land struggles in the Andean province of Jujuy, Argentina, were interpreted, since the end of the 19th century, in terms of a “communist threat.” The accusation of being a “communist” was applied to arrendatarios (tenants) in the highlands of the region, along with the “Indigenous” and “Indians labels, in situations of land demands. On the other hand, the accusation of being communist was integrated and reinterpreted by the arrenderos in various ways. We examine how this complex trajectory of labels, accusations and stigmatization intervened, in the long run, with the process of ethnic revival experienced in the region, particularly toward the 1990s.

Limites e desafios da educação inclusiva no campo: a experiência do projeto educativo do MST

O objetivo desta pesquisa foi analisar a questão da Educação Inclusiva em documentos orientadores do MST, mais especificamente, em sua proposta de educação. Para o desenvolvimento do estudo, trabalhou-se com a pesquisa de natureza bibliográfica e análise documental. O Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra é o principal movimento brasileiro de luta e resistência pela terra e contra o avanço do capitalismo e, para defender suas bandeiras, elege como um dos eixos principais o desenvolvimento de uma educação emancipadora, que congregue trabalho e educação na gestão da produção, por meio de relações e ações democráticas. Buscou-se investigar como o Movimento trata a inclusão em seu projeto educativo e, para tanto, buscou-se estabelecer uma aproximação entre Educação Especial e Inclusiva, e estas com a Educação do Campo, a partir das diretrizes expressas no projeto educativo do MST. Foi possível constatar princípios organizativos gerais, mas, devido à própria dimensão territorial das ações do Movimento, e o respeito às particularidades das ações tomadas nas localidades, as diferentes experiências educativas do MST podem destoar, em maior ou menor grau, entre si.
 Palavras-chave: Educação do Campo, Educação Inclusiva, Educação Especial, MST.
 
 Limits and challenges of inclusive education in the countryside: the experience of the MST educational project
 Abstract: The objective of this research was to analyze the Inclusive Education in MST guiding documents, more specifically, in its education proposal. For the development of the study, bibliographic research and documentary analysis were used. The Movement of Landless Rural Workers (MST) is the main Brazilian movement of struggle and resistance for land and against the advancement of capitalism. To defend its ideas, the MST chooses as one of the central lines the development of an emancipatory education, which combines work and education in the management of production, through democratic relations and actions. The research seeks to investigate how the Movement treats inclusion in its educational project, therefore, an approximation was established between Special and Inclusive Education, and these with Rural Education, based on the guidelines expressed in the MST pedagogical project. It was possible to verify general organizational principles, but, due to the territorial dimension of the Movement's actions, and the respect for the particularities of the actions taken in the localities, the different educational experiences of the MST may disagree, to a greater or lesser extent, with each other.
 Keywords: Rural Education, Inclusive Education, Special Education, MST.
 
 Límites y retos de la educación inclusiva en el campo: la experiencia del proyecto educativo MST
 Resumen: El objetivo de esta investigación fue analizar la cuestión de la Educación Inclusiva en los documentos orientadores del MST, más específicamente, en si propuesta educativa. Para el desarrollo del estudio se trabajó con la investigación bibliográfica y el análisis de documentos. El Movimiento de Trabajadores Rurales Sin Tierra (MST) es el principal movimiento brasileño de lucha y resistencia por la tierra y contra el avance del capitalismo y, para defender sus banderas, elige como uno de los ejes principales el desarrollo de una educación emancipadora, que reúne trabajo u educación en gestión de la producción, a través de relaciones y acciones democráticas. Se buscó investigar cómo el Movimiento trata la inclusión en su proyecto y, para ello, se buscó establecer un acercamiento entre la Educación Especial e Inclusiva, y estas con la Educación del Campo, a partir de las orientaciones expresadas en el proyecto educativo del MST. Se pudo constatar principios organizativos generales, pero, por la dimensión territorial de las acciones del Movimiento, y el respeto a las particularidades de las acciones realizadas en las localidades, las diferentes experiencias educativas del MST pueden contradecir, en mayor o menor extensión, entre sí.
 Palabras clave: Educación del Campo, Educación Inclusiva, Educación Especial, MST.

Os impactos da globalização sobre a Educação do Campo: políticas públicas de resistência

O presente artigo tem por escopo realizar uma discussão acerca do processo de globalização e suas implicações na Educação do Campo. Trazer a Educação do Campo para dentro dessa discussão resulta em identificar os impactos que a globalização pode trazer, afetando a singularidade cultural e social desses sujeitos. Trata-se de um estudo teórico-bibliográfico de natureza básica, qualitativo quanto à abordagem do problema e descritivo analítico quanto aos objetivos. Apresentamos no texto o inegável impacto que a globalização, intensificada na modernidade, possui acerca da Educação do Campo: sua homogeneização cultural, a mercantilização do sistema educacional, o esmagamento de culturas locais, a exclusão de sua singularidade e a padronização de um comportamento, negando a historicidade das lutas camponesas pela terra e educação de qualidade que lhe é inerente. Na contramão desse processo, o texto aponta as políticas públicas destinadas à Educação do Campo, como formas de resistência frente a esse movimento.
 Palavras-chave: Educação do Campo, Homogeneização Cultural, Resistência, Globalização.
 
 The impacts of globalization on Rural Education: public policies of resistance
 ABSTRACT. This article aims to conduct a discussion about the globalization process and its implications on Rural Education. Bringing Rural Education into this discussion, results in identifying the impacts that globalization can bring, affecting the cultural and social uniqueness of these subjects. It is a theoretical-bibliographic study of a basic nature, qualitative in terms of approaching the problem and analytical descriptive in terms of objectives. We present in the text the undeniable impact that globalization, intensified in modern times, has on Rural Education: its cultural homogenization, the commodification of the educational system, the crushing of local cultures, the exclusion of its uniqueness and the standardization of behavior, denying the historicity of peasant struggles for land and quality education that is inherent to it. Contrary to this process, the text points to public policies aimed at Rural Education, as forms of resistance to this movement.
 Keywords: Rural Education, Cultural Homogenization, Resistance, Globalization.
 
 Los impactos de la globalización en la Educación del Campo: políticas públicas de resistencia
 RESUMEN. Este artículo tiene el objetivo de realizar una discusión acerca del proceso de globalización y sus implicaciones en la Educación del Campo. Al incorporar la educación rural a esta discusión, se identifican los impactos que puede traer la globalización, afectando la singularidad cultural y social de estos sujetos. Es un estudio teórico-bibliográfico de carácter básico, cualitativo en términos de abordaje del problema y descriptivo analítico en términos de objetivos. Presentamos en el texto el impacto innegable que la globalización, intensificada en la modernidad, tiene en la Educación Rural: su homogeneización cultural, la comercialización del sistema educativo, el aplastamiento de las culturas locales, la exclusión de su singularidad y la estandarización de comportamientos, negando la historicidad de las luchas campesinas por la tierra y la educación de calidad inherente a ella. Contrario a este proceso, el texto apunta a las políticas públicas orientadas a la Educación Rural, como formas de resistencia a este movimiento.
 Palabras clave: Educación del Campo, Homogeneización Cultural, Resistencia, Globalización.

Sobre el libro de Luis Rojas Villagra, La tierra en disputa: extractivismo, exclusión y resistencia

Paraguay has had a long history of land struggles from colonial times until the present time, with the conclusion of the War of the Triple Alliance in 1870 being the most representative historical fact that occurred. In effect, the land under the dominion of the State is considered as a mercantile object, which installed the matrix of intensive exploitation and extraction of national resources towards international markets. As a consequence of these actions, the indigenous and peasant communi...

A questão agrária em Mato Grosso do Sul

A questão agrária em Mato Grosso do Sul está ligada à relação conflituosa entre concentração fundiária e a luta pela terra. Para compreender como se dá esta relação faremos uma breve explanação sobre os conflitos agrários que marcaram o início da implantação da reforma agrária no estado e que culminou com o surgimento dos movimentos sociais de luta pela terra. Trataremos ainda sobre os entraves na política agrária causada pela modernização da produção agropecuária que se intensificou com o processo de agroindustrialização culminando com a expansão do agronegócio que por sua vez vem afetando a política de criação de assentamentos rurais. Debateremos ainda, como a consolidação do agronegócio se tornou um entrave para a política agrária e como apesar das dificuldades foi possível a criação de um número significativo de assentamentos rurais no estado onde vive e trabalham grande parte da população rural sul-mato-grossense.

A estrutura fundiária no Brasil e a luta pela reforma agrária: o acampamento Valmir Motta de Oliveira em Jacarezinho-PR

O texto apresenta um debate sobre a histórica estrutura fundiária brasileira e sua modernização conservadora, discute a relação entre a propriedade e posse da terra no Brasil, e a necessidade e a luta pela reforma agrária, com a atuação do Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST) e da Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT). Trabalha também um breve estudo sobre a Educação Popular e estuda um caso especial, o acampamento Valmir Motta de Oliveira em Jacarezinho, estado do Paraná, local que associa a luta pela terra e a educação, no contexto da sociedade brasileira.

Analysis of indigenous community conflicts on illegal mining in Botak mountain of Buru district

The results of the study by the authors of the analysis that there are found 4 factors that influence the occurrence of conflict in the area of Buru Regency mountain gold mining bald. First, there is a struggle for mining land between indigenous peoples. Secondly, indigenous peoples claim land ownership over their customary rights. third, Conflict Policy from the government towards the closure of Mining in the bald mountain area. Of the 3 factors, this is the stage in the problem in the bald mountain until the conflict from the real gold mining is found open until now. The instructions from the Buru Regency Regent followed up by issuing the Regent Instruction Number 1 of 2012 concerning the handling of social disasters as a result of the management of illegal gold mining on Mount Bald in Buru Regency. In this case, in order to follow up on the policy, the two Instructions by the Regional Government agencies along with the Security Apparatus from the TNI and POLRI conducted sweeping in the illegal gold mining area on bald mountain.

Narratives of the Dispossessed and Casteless: Politics of Land and Caste in Rajarhat, West Bengal

ABSTRACT This article examines the political narratives around a two-decade -old process of land acquisition and development in the “global city” Rajarhat, a former rural settlement in the Indian state of West Bengal. These narratives are built against the backdrop of a neoliberal state acting as a corporate facilitator, particularly in matters of land, and the concomitant dispossession. The multifaceted politics of Rajarhat took shape during the erstwhile communist regime in West Bengal, the dichotomy of a self-identified Left state engaged in forceful and violent land acquisition thus forming an interesting paradox. The article also presents evidence against the long -held political myth of caste relations being irrelevant in Bengali politics, by examining the upper-caste -dominated social relations in Rajarhat and the formation of low-level cartels or “syndicates” in the area . In conclusion, the article points to the reinvention and redeployment of caste relations – even in increasingly urban spaces where “hierarchical” caste practices are usually taken to be on the decline – rooted in the duality between land struggles and development.