journal article Feb 17, 2022

Autonomy as a politico‐economic concept: Peasant practices and nested markets

Journal of Agrarian Change Vol. 22 No. 3 pp. 529-546 · Wiley
View at Publisher Save 10.1111/joac.12482
Abstract
AbstractThis paper discusses autonomy as a set of practices that result in the production and reproduction of resources that allow for self‐organization. We define autonomy as a social construct that refers to the self‐organizing capacity of people, communities, and movements. Such capacity assumes both resources and agency. In that vein, our conceptualisation implies that autonomy is a relational concept: It can only emerge when and where struggles that aim at going beyond dependency (i.e., nonautonomy) concretely exist. Autonomy is three‐pronged, involving a set of goal‐oriented activities, a distantiation from capital, and the agency of social actors. Intertwined with these levels are peasant movements that have the capacity to develop and implement a political agenda that is not overshadowed and/or dictated by external influences. The paper illustrates this intertwining with the case of the Circuito (O Circuito), a Brazilian peasant movement that has constructed and operates an extended farmers' market and which simultaneously transforms farming practices. The Circuit is the outcome of collective action and shows the potential of multilevel performance of several actors engaged in concerted actions. In the conclusion, we suggest that the Circuit represents autonomy based on commonly pooled resources as well representing a countermovement to the destructive dynamics of food empires.
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Details
Published
Feb 17, 2022
Vol/Issue
22(3)
Pages
529-546
License
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Funding
Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico
Fundacão de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul
Cite This Article
Jan Douwe van der Ploeg, Sergio Schneider (2022). Autonomy as a politico‐economic concept: Peasant practices and nested markets. Journal of Agrarian Change, 22(3), 529-546. https://doi.org/10.1111/joac.12482