Rural Social Movements in L atin A merica: In the Eye of the Storm

These are very exciting times for anyone studying or supporting peasant movements in Latin America. Over the past two decades, rural social movements have been the lifeline of the Latin American Left and have thus been in the eye of the political storm that has shaken certain countries of the continent. They have been at the forefront of social mobilization against neoliberalism; brought down governments; provided support to left-wing nationalist/ populist governments; and have been deeply involved in the global struggle against transnational agribusiness through Vía Campesina or the Coordinadora Latinoamericana de Organizaciones del Campo (Latin American Coordinator of Rural Organizations, CLOC). In several countries in the region, peasant and indigenous movements have reached unprecedented levels of unity and cohesion. The catalyst for their unity has been their opposition to neoliberalism, which they see as the source of their current predicament of impoverishment and marginalization of peasant families. Through their cooperation and dialogue, an alternative peasant model of development that revolves around the concept of food sovereignty is slowly emerging. Their strategies may have differed – for instance, in the way they relate to the power of the state and alliances with political parties – but their forms of mobilization – including national