The third agrarian crisis and the re-emergence of processes of repeasantization.

摘要

We are currently witnessing the emergence of a new and worldwide agrarian crisis. Just as in the previous two crises, this third agrarian crisis - which was initiated in 1995 when the Agreement on Agriculture was settled within the Wto framework - is the outcome of long-term and interacting changes whose effects are not immediately visible. Three main processes characterise the current crises. First, the worldwide neglect and subsequent marginalisation of peasant agriculture. A second and critical factor is the neo-liberal project implemented since the early 1990s. This project implies that world commodity markets are increasingly seen and used as setting principles for both the production and circulation of agrarian and food products. Third - and intimately connected with the neo-liberal project - there has been a remarkable rise in the number, scope and impact of what are now known as food empires. These are relatively new networks that operate at a global level and which increasingly control and re-pattern the production, processing, distribution and consumption of food. An important feature of these food empires is that they link spaces of poverty - where production takes place - to spaces of prosperity - where luxury consumption is located. New technologies that make it possible to bridge extensive distances in time and space are often strategic here. It is suggested that the threat presented to world food security by the third crisis and by food empires can best be countered by peasant agriculture.