Grassroots Movements as Transnational Actors. The Case of CLOC-La Vía Campesina in Central

278 Pages·2017·31.03 MB·English

Grassroots Movements as Transnational Actors. The Case of CLOC-La Vía Campesina in
Central America

DISSERTATION
of the University of St. Gallen,
School of Management,
Economics, Law, Social Sciences
and International Affairs
to obtain the title of
Doctor of Philosophy in Organizational
Studies and Cultural Theory

submitted by

Alice Froidevaux

from

Le Noirmont (Jura)

Approved on the application of

Prof. Corinne A. Pernet, PhD

and

Prof. Dr. Franz Schultheis

Dissertation no. 4715

Difo-Druck GmbH, Bamberg 2018
The University of St. Gallen, School of Management, Economics, Law, Social Scienc-
es and International Affairs hereby consents to the printing of the present dissertation,
without hereby expressing any opinion on the views herein expressed.

St. Gallen, October 27, 2017

The President:

Prof. Dr. Thomas Bieger
Acknowledgements
My gratitude goes to many people who lent their support during the completion
of my PhD project. This dissertation would not have been possible without the great
sincerity and trust of CLOC-LVC—especially the Central American member organi-
zations—to share their history, their experiences, and their work with me. They invited
me into their offices and communities and welcomed me to be a part of their activities.
I am deeply grateful to the women, men, and young people who spoke to me with
trust, courage and humor as they shared their personal stories.
I admire the grassroots organizations and activists wherever they struggle to se-
cure their individual and collective rights for a dignified life, and for a fairer world—
despite the repression many of them face. I submit this dissertation in remembrance of
the thousands of peasant activists who have been murdered in Latin America.
I am grateful to the Swiss National Science Foundation for financing this project,
and for the workshops organized by the ProDoc-Program “The Dynamics of Transcul-
tural Governance and Management in Latin America,” which offered a valuable
opportunity for feedback and exchange. I am indebted to my supervisors Corinne Per-
net and Franz Schultheis for their kindness and guidance. Gracias, Corinne, for your
time and your numerous helpful analytical contributions. I would also like to thank
Yanina Welp for her valuable advice and for keeping me motivated. Further thanks go
to my peers, who became friends during the process, for the fruitful discussions about
our PhD projects and enriching conversations during these years—particularly Sandra.
I could not have completed this dissertation without the incredible kindness of
my family and friends who have provided, above all, emotional support. Thank you
Eva-Maria and Pascal Froidevaux, my parents, for your unconditional love, your gen-
erous support and your unwavering belief in me. Thank you Anne-Catherine, for being
such a supportive sister and motivating force, even while living on the other side of the
globe. I would like to extend a special expression of gratitude to my grandmother,
Tresa Conrad, for being such an inspirational woman. Thank you to my girls for giv-
ing me all these beautiful moments of distraction and for your so precious friendship:
Jasmin, Aline, Isabelle, Michèle, Eva-Maria, Ela, Samyra, Anna-Julia and Andrea.
And thank you Thomas, for being at my side, for all your patience and for en-
couraging me and pushing me forward again and again.

January, 2018 Alice Froidevaux
Table of Contents
Acronyms ........................................................................................................................ i
Abstract.. ...................................................................................................................... iii

PART I: CONTEXTUALIZATION
1 Introduction: Phenomenon and Research Questions ............................................ 2
2 The Context ............................................................................................................... 7
2.1 Transnational Agrarian Movements: A Response to the Changing Realities Under Neoliberal
Transformation .............................................................................................................................. 7
2.1.1 The State and the Peasantry in the Twentieth Century .......................................................... 8
2.1.2 Agricultural Changes Under Neoliberal Transformation .................................................... 10
2.2 Latin America: A Central Arena for Protests and Social Movements ........................................ 14
2.2.1 A Macro-Periodization of Latin American Movement History ........................................... 15
2.2.2 A New (Transnational) Protest Cycle Against Neoliberalism ............................................. 17
3 The Case .................................................................................................................. 18
3.1 La Vía Campesina and the CLOC: An Intertwined History ........................................................ 18
3.2 An Organizational Mapping of La Vía Campesina ..................................................................... 25

PART II: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS AND METHODOLOGY
4 Conceptual Framework ......................................................................................... 30
4.1 Towards a Definition of Transnational Grassroots Movements (TGMs) .................................... 31
4.2 TGMs Within Domestic and International Organizational Fields ............................................... 36
4.3 TGMs as Shared Meaning: Constructing Collective Identities and Action Frames .................... 40
4.4 TGMs and Organization .............................................................................................................. 46
4.5 Leadership and Brokerage Roles in TGMs ................................................................................. 51
5 Current State of Research and Relevance of the Study ...................................... 56
5.1 Literature Review ........................................................................................................................ 56
5.2 Research Gaps and Contribution ................................................................................................. 64
6 Methodological Framework .................................................................................. 65
6.1 Doing Ethnography in and of Complex Organizations ............................................................... 65
6.2 A Multi-Sited and Translocal Approach ..................................................................................... 68
6.3 Challenges and Limitations of Multi-Sited and Translocal Research ......................................... 72
6.4 Constructing a Coherent Field ..................................................................................................... 75
6.4.1 A First Field Trip: Getting Acquainted with the CLOC-LVC in Central America ............. 75
6.4.2 Narrowing Down the Research Focus: Selecting Sites ....................................................... 78
6.5 Collecting Data ............................................................................................................................ 80
6.5.1 An Event-Ethnography of the Sixth Continental Congress of the CLOC-LVC .................. 81
6.5.2 Capturing the Everyday Operations of the CLOC-LVC in Nicaragua ................................ 84
6.5.3 Collecting Data on Leadership Dynamics and the CLOC-LVC Delegates ......................... 85
6.6 Managing and Analyzing the Data .............................................................................................. 88
6.7 Positionality of the Researcher .................................................................................................... 90

PART III: EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS
7 La Vía Campesina’s Positioning: Defining Roles and Strategies ........................ 94
7.1 Problem Definition and Chapter Outline ..................................................................................... 94
7.2 Identifying Strategic Partners and Building Alliances ................................................................ 95
7.2.1 LVC and NGOs ................................................................................................................... 96
7.2.2 LVC and Cross-Sector Movement Networks .................................................................... 106
7.3 Negotiating Positions and Tactics in the International Political Arena ..................................... 111
7.4 ‘Globalize the Struggle’: Representation Claims at the Global Level ...................................... 116
7.5 Keep the Struggle Grounded: LVC’s Role at the Domestic Level ............................................ 120
8 Constructing Shared Meaning in La Vía Campesina ........................................ 126
8.1 A Collective Identification as ‘People of the Land’ .................................................................. 128
8.2 LVC’s Key Collective Action Frames ....................................................................................... 133
8.2.1 The Battle Against Neoliberalist Capitalism as a Life or Death Struggle ......................... 134
8.2.2 “Food Sovereignty is Our Answer to Our Common Challenges” ..................................... 138
8.3 Building a Sense of Community and Belonging Through the Místicas .................................... 144
8.4 Framing Processes in the CLOC-LVC ...................................................................................... 150
8.4.1 Maintaining Latin American Peculiarities Within the LVC .............................................. 151
8.4.2 ‘Frame Bridging’: Linking Socialist and Indigenous Views Under the Frame of
Agroecology ....................................................................................................................... 154
8.4.3 ‘Frame Transformation’: CLOC-LVC’s Proposal for a Feminismo Campesino y
Popular……… .................................................................................................................. 158
9 (Anti-)Organizational Elements in La Vía Campesina ...................................... 164
9.1 Problem Definition and Chapter Outline ................................................................................... 164
9.2 Membership Admission Process ............................................................................................... 165
9.3 Rules, Monitoring and Sanctions versus Autonomy ................................................................. 168
9.3.1 LVC Member Organizations and Other Transnational Agrarian Movements .................. 168
9.3.2 LVC Member Organizations and National Governments ................................................. 170
9.3.3 LVC Member Organizations and Domestic Party Politics ................................................ 174
9.4 Hierarchy versus Direct Democracy .......................................................................................... 179
9.4.1 Decentralized Collective Leadership ................................................................................. 180
9.4.2 Grassroots Democracy ....................................................................................................... 185
10 Leaders and Brokers in La Vía Campesina ...................................................... 190
10.1 Problem Definition and Chapter Outline ................................................................................ 190
10.2 LVC as an Arena of Interactions Between Its Member Organizations ................................... 191
10.2.1 Power Dimensions Between LVC Organizations from a Global Perspective ................ 193
10.2.2 Power Dimensions Between LVC Organizations from a Domestic Perspective: The Case
of Nicaragua .................................................................................................................... 197
10.3 Leadership, Cultural Capital and Mobility in LVC ................................................................ 201
10.3.1 A New Kind of Leaders: Peasant Intellectuals and Rooted Cosmopolitans ................... 203
10.3.2 LVC as a ‘School’ ........................................................................................................... 210
10.4 Changing Leadership Dynamics Within LVC ........................................................................ 217
10.4.1 LVC’s Evolution Towards Gender Equality ................................................................... 219
10.4.2 The Role of the Youth in LVC ........................................................................................ 229

PART IV: CONCLUSIONS
11 Summary of Findings and Conclusions ............................................................ 237
12 References ........................................................................................................... 245
12.1 Primary Resources .................................................................................................................. 245
12.1.1 Interviews ........................................................................................................................ 245
12.1.2 Printed Sources ................................................................................................................ 248
12.1.3 Online Sources and Websites .......................................................................................... 248
12.2 Literature ................................................................................................................................. 253
CURRICULUM VITAE ........................................................................................... 265
List of Tables

Table 1: World’s Agricultural Population, Rural Population and Economically Active
Population in Agriculture, 2013 ...................................................................... 3
Table 2: Signatures to Mons Declaration, 1993 ............................................................ 23
Table 3: Spectrum of Organizational Elements ............................................................ 49
Table 4: Different Democratic Forms of Internal Decision-Making ............................ 51
Table 5: The Brokerage Ladder .................................................................................... 55
Table 6: Overview of the Data-Gathering Process ....................................................... 87
Table 7: Coding My Data ............................................................................................. 89
Table 8: Members of IPC for Food Sovereignty ........................................................ 107
Table 9: Regional Distribution and Development of the Number of LVC Members 118

List of Figures

Figure 1: Regional Composition of LVC Member Organizations ................................ 26
Figure 2: Organizational Levels of La Vía Campesina ................................................ 27
Figure 3: The Logos of LVC and the CLOC ................................................................ 28
Figure 4: Access Badge to the Sixth Continental Conference of the CLOC-LVC ....... 82
Figure 5: Flyer for the Fifth Women’s Assembly of the CLOC-LVC ....................... 160
Figure 6: Certificate of a CLOC-LVC Leadership ‘Formation’ Program .................. 216
Acronyms
ALAI Agencia Latinoamericana de Información
AMPROSOR Asociación Nicaragüense de Productores de Sorgo
ANACH Asociación Nacional de Campesinos Hondureños
ARCAH Articulación Campesina de Honduras
ARNIG Asociación Resistencia Nicaragüense Israel Galeano
ASOCODE Asociación Centroamericana de Organizaciones Campesinas para la
Cooperación y el Desarrollo
ATC Asociación de Trabajadores del Campo
CLOC Coordinadora Latinoamericana de Organizaciones del Campo
CNOR Coordinadora Nacional de Oficiales en Retiro
COCOCH Consejo Coordinador de Organizaciones Campesinas de Honduras
CODECA Comité del Desarrollo Campesino
CODIMCA Consejo para el Desarrollo Integral de la Mujer Campesina
CONAVIGUA Coordinadora Nacional de Viudas de Guatemala
CONCENTRA Central American Coordination of Workers
CONIC Coordinadora Nacional de Indígenas y Campesinos
COP21 Twenty-first Conference of the Parties, United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change
COSEP Consejo Superior de la Empresa Privada
CPC Continental Political Commission of the CLOC-LVC
CPE Coordination Paysanne Européenne
CTC Comités de Trabajadores del Campo
CUC Comité de Uniones Campesinos
DRR Diálogo Regional Rural
DS Diálogo de Saberes
ECVC European Coordination of La Vía Campesina
EU European Union
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
FENACOOP Federación Nacional de Cooperativas
FSLN Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional
FSPI Federasi Serikat Petani Indonesia
GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
GCAR Global Campaign for Agrarian Reform
GMO Genetically Modified Organism
IALA Instituto Agroecológico Latinoamericano
ICC International Coordination Committee of La Vía Campesina
IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development
i
IFAP International Federation of Agricultural Producers
IMF International Monetary Fund
IOS International Operational Secretariat of La Vía Campesina
IPC International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty
ISI Import Substitution Industrialization
LAFTA Latin American Free Trade Area
LIBRE Partido de Libertad y Refundación (Honduras)
LPM South African Landless People’s Movement
LRAN Land Research and Action Network
LVC La Vía Campesina
MAF Mesa Agropecuaria y Forestal
MENA Middle East and North Africa Region
MNCI Movimiento Nacional Campesino e Indígena
MST Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra
NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement
NFU Canadian National Farmers Union
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
PACA Política Agrícola Centroamericana
PARLACEN Central American Parliament
PCaC Campesino a Campesino Program
PFS Paulo Freire Stichting Foundation
SAL Solidaridad Suecia-América Latina
SICA Sistema de Integración Centroamericano
SMO Social Movement Organization
SOCLA Sociedad Científica Latinoamericana de Agroecología
TAM Transnational Agrarian Movement
TNC Transnational Corporation
TNI Transnational Institute (Amsterdam)
UCIH Unión Campesina e Indígena de Honduras
UNAG Unión Nacional de Agricultores y Ganadores
UNAPA Unión Nacional Agropecuaria de Productores Asociados
UPA Nacional Unión de Pequeños y Medianos Agricultores Nacionales
UNAPIC Unión de Productores Agropecuarios de Nicaragua
USA United States of America
WFF World Forum of Fish Harvesters and Fish Workers
WFFP World Forum of Fisher People
WFO World Farmers Organization
WTO World Trade Organization
ii
Abstract
Since the 1990s, a plurality of new social movements, networks and organizations have
emerged at the transnational level, aiming to promote a more just and equitable global world
order. This phenomenon has led to a scholarly discourse about an emerging ‘global civil soci-
ety’ and is usually summarized under the terms of ‘global justice movement’ or ‘anti-
globalization movement’. Of particular interest in this development is the rise of new transna-
tional grassroots movements, understood as movements of those most directly affected by
global policy and economic shifts. Such transnational grassroots movements are breaking the
common assumption that movements ‘from below’ are inherently limited to the local or do-
mestic levels. Moreover, they have increasingly challenged the hierarchies within the so-
called ‘global civil society’. This has implied questioning both the dominance of North Amer-
ican and European NGOs within transnational advocacy networks and the right of non-
grassroots actors to lead and represent them.
This dissertation uses the International Peasant Movement La Vía Campesina (LVC) as
a case study to analyze the challenges that grassroots movement actors face when seeking to
operate transnationally. Since its founding in 1993, LVC has been constantly growing. Cur-
rently, the movement embraces 164 organizations of small farmers and agricultural workers
in 73 states around the world. LVC has become a recognized actor in global debates regarding
agrarian and food politics and is valued as the main collective voice of marginalized rural
peoples. In this position, LVC faces the big challenge of becoming neither too localized nor
too globalized, so that it can seek to maintain its internal and external legitimacy as well as its
international status as ‘a powerful voice from below’. The challenges that LVC faces are two-
fold. On the one hand, being a grassroots movement acting on a transnational level requires
effective links and the right balance between local and international struggles. On the other
hand, LVC has to manage and make coherent an extremely vast transcultural movement base,
heterogeneous in ethnicity, class, language, religion, ideology, gender and age.
This dissertation combines approaches and concepts from both social movement and
organizational studies. It looks at LVC from four different but interlinked perspectives: the
organizational field; shared meaning (collective identity and framing); organization; and lead-
ership and brokerage. To tackle the complexity of LVC and the different scales that constitute
the movement (local, national, regional, continental and global), it uses a multi-sited ethnog-
raphy approach. The regional focus of this project lies in Latin America and consequently on
the Latin American representation of LVC, the Coordinadora Latinoamericana de Organiza-
ciones del Campo (CLOC-LVC). Within this focus, this dissertation again concentrates on
four Central American countries, namely Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
iii