When the State Sidesteps Land Reform: Alternative Peasant Strategies in Tungurahua, Ecuador

摘要

The research offers a straightforward challenge to both Marxist and 'developmentalist' countries that minifundio holdings are not economically viable and are in a state of constant deterioration. The data presented here confirm that many of Santa Lucia's smallholders were able to purchase enough land to maintain their minifundio status over the generations under study. The study also brings an additional dimension to the Leninist theory of peasant differentiation. Although the study shows that a significant number of peasant households were able to generate a surplus for land purchases, the free market has not provided consistent benefits. Unfortunately, the economic benefits of the project appear to have very high environmental costs. Substantial destruction of the paramo's capacity to provide irrigation water for the watershed area could threaten agriculture in the whole Ambato basin. It remains to be seen whether the state's policy of sidestepping land reform will carry serious consequences for future generations of Ecuadorians.