PEASANT POLITICS (HIST3053)

In this course we focus our attention on the history and politics of farmers cultivating small land plots who struggle to hold onto their lands despite legal and illegal efforts by outsiders to take it from them. Peasant political movements and social actions are examined. We also analyze market-based efforts by farmers to increase their income; community efforts to enact new policies aimed at self-protection; food crop-growing, artisanry and other efforts at self-sufficiency; and inter-community ‘sharing’ economies. At the same time, we examine peasant social movements, local community activism, and recent efforts by peasant actors to link up with global and national non-profit agencies and global institutions. Cross-listed with HIST3053