We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Friday, December 20, 2013

Trans-Latin business and land grabbing in Latin America

Click here to access article by Sally Burch from América Latina en Movimiento.

In this article Burch interviews Cristobal Kay, a specialist in development and agrarian reform, who explains the current phenomenon of capitalist land-grabbing and its current form in Latin America which is quite different from the old latifundia.
...now it is not a question of expropriating uncultivated, unproductive land, as was the case with the old large estates.  These are capitalist enterprises, with large and highly productive investments, high-tech, completely integrated into the international market; hence governments are extremely reluctant to touch these businesses. 
 Kay also has ideas on what is necessary to combat land-grabbing.