A decade after buying up large swaths of land in Guatemala’s Polochic Valley, the Chabil Utzaj sugarcane plantation was forced to cease operations because of local resistance led by indigenous Q’eqchi’ campesinos. Situating the conflict within broader trajectories of agrarian and political change brought about by globalization in Guatemala shows how campesino groups have had to navigate a neoliberal political arena that disciplines their discourses and practices and limits their achievements. Campesinos’ success to date has rested on partially subverting neoliberal institutions and prescribed practices, thus making new territories coveted by capital ungovernable and therefore less desirable. While most of the lands previously under sugarcane cultivation are currently occupied by organized campesino groups, their control of those lands is very precarious without property titles. The conflict is not yet over, and its long-term impact on livelihoods and trajectories of agrarian change remains uncertain. Una década después de comprar grandes franjas de tierra en el Valle Polochic de Guatemala, la plantación de caña de azúcar Chabil Utzaj se vio obligada a cesar sus operaciones debido a la resistencia local liderada por los campesinos indígenas Q’eqchi. Situar el conflicto dentro de trayectorias más amplias de cambios agrarios y políticos provocados por la globalización en Guatemala muestra cómo los grupos campesinos han tenido que navegar por una arena política neoliberal que disciplina sus discursos y prácticas y limita sus logros. El éxito de campesinos hasta la fecha se ha basado en subvertir parcialmente las instituciones neoliberales y las prácticas prohibidas, haciendo que los nuevos territorios codiciados por el capital sean ingobernables y, por lo tanto, menos deseables. Si bien la mayoría de las tierras anteriormente cultivadas con caña de azúcar están actualmente ocupadas por grupos campesinos organizados, su control de esas tierras es muy precario sin títulos de propiedad. El conflicto aún no ha terminado, y su impacto a largo plazo en la manera de ganarse la vida y las trayectorias del cambio agrario sigue siendo incierto.
Since the turn of the 21st century, sugarcane, oil palm, and nickel mining have transformed the Polochic valley lowlands in northeastern Guatemala. These industries have been met with different forms of resistance from local indigenous Q'eqchi' agrarian communities operating under the banner of “defence of territory” (DOT). In this paper, I argue that the concept of moral economy can help understand why the arrival of different (agro)extractive industries were met with different levels of resistance by Q'eqchi' communities. The key elements of the local moral economy that informs DOT in the Polochic lowlands are customary territorial practices, paternalistic class relationships, and rising livelihood expectations. The degree to which this moral economy was violated by different industries helps explain variegated responses and outcomes, particularly why sugarcane company Chabil Utzaj was met with widespread and sustained resistance that ultimately led to its decision to cease operations. This moral economy was itself shaped by previous cycles of agrarian change and continues to shape present‐day political contestation.
There is an acknowledgement that the debate over the civil society agenda is messy, with competing versions of what is possible. This book then is of its time, a moment to revisit and rethink the significance of transformative politics in the changed circumstances of the Latin American region. The authors give us much to chew over, to agree and disagree with. But at the heart of this book lies the unsolved problem of how best to achieve a transformative politics and social justice. In the end this goes beyond the realm of popular social activism to also involve improving the institutions of liberal democracy, making them more transparent and political parties more responsive. As this book shows, despite the Latin American Left's uneasy and ambiguous relationship with Liberal democracy, social movements invariably have to deal with it if they are to realise their demands. That being so, the nature of states and representative institutions remain critical strategic issues.
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