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Keywords: Innovation system, Soil fertility management, Land reform, Participatory technology development, Social change, Agroforestry, Land access rights, Fallow, Agricultural intensification, Africa On the Adja plateau (West Benin), multiple actors are involved in an intercropping system with oil palm and food crops. This system is known as the oil palm-based cropping system (OPBCS). It contains two stages: a stage of small oil palms underneath which food crops are grown and a fallow stage with mature oil palm. Landowners grow oil palm mainly for the artisanal production of palm wine and sodabi, rather than for palm oil, for which the region is unsuitable for climatological reasons. The OPBCS has to be analysed not only from a technical and ecological perspective, but also from an institutional one. In the OPBCS there are competing claims between landowners and tenants for land use. Tenants access land under specific customary rules, grow food crops beneath oil palm and extend the cropping period by severely pruning palms because their right to grow food crops terminates when the palms reach a height of 2 m. Landowners claim that extended cropping reduces soil fertility and that long-duration oil palm fallows are necessary for soil fertility regeneration. Tenants state that long-duration fallow maintains land scarcity. In an attempt to remedy the competing claims, a land titling programme was implemented in some villages on the Adja plateau. I analysed the system with a political ecology lens. I demonstrated the implications of the multiple institutions for land access and ownership, and therefore for the competing claims. Land titling initially created land insecurity for tenants, as they were thrown off the land by owners who wanted to demonstrate ownership. Subsequently, new rules related to land access by tenants were introduced. Both ownership and access by tenants relied on a different mix of formal and informal practices, as evidenced by formal contracts, petits papiers and a new paper contract. The new paper contract provides tenants the rights to rent the land for up to 25 years. The titling programme also enhanced on-going processes of intensification and commercialisation, as evidenced by increased use of mineral fertiliser and the regression of the OPBCS. The long-duration fallow periods did not improve biological and chemical soil fertility. Long-duration fallows are rather used as an expression of control over land. Mineral fertiliser and organic amendments (household waste) explain lack of effects of fallowing. Application of household waste and mineral fertiliser did not change soil organic matter content. Organic amendments increased maize yields more than mineral fertiliser. Household waste did not improve agronomic use efficiency of mineral fertiliser. I suggest that formal and customary land tenure institutions can be blended to generate a hybrid system. Such a hybrid system might contribute to sustainable soil fertility management.

Keywords: Innovation system, Soil fertility management, Land reform, Participatory technology development, Social change, Agroforestry, Land access rights, Fallow, Agricultural intensification, Africa On the Adja plateau (West Benin), multiple actors are involved in an intercropping system with oil palm and food crops. This system is known as the oil palm-based cropping system (OPBCS). It contains two stages: a stage of small oil palms underneath which food crops are grown and a fallow stage with mature oil palm. Landowners grow oil palm mainly for the artisanal production of palm wine and sodabi, rather than for palm oil, for which the region is unsuitable for climatological reasons. The OPBCS has to be analysed not only from a technical and ecological perspective, but also from an institutional one. In the OPBCS there are competing claims between landowners and tenants for land use. Tenants access land under specific customary rules, grow food crops beneath oil palm and extend the cropping period by severely pruning palms because their right to grow food crops terminates when the palms reach a height of 2 m. Landowners claim that extended cropping reduces soil fertility and that long-duration oil palm fallows are necessary for soil fertility regeneration. Tenants state that long-duration fallow maintains land scarcity. In an attempt to remedy the competing claims, a land titling programme was implemented in some villages on the Adja plateau. I analysed the system with a political ecology lens. I demonstrated the implications of the multiple institutions for land access and ownership, and therefore for the competing claims. Land titling initially created land insecurity for tenants, as they were thrown off the land by owners who wanted to demonstrate ownership. Subsequently, new rules related to land access by tenants were introduced. Both ownership and access by tenants relied on a different mix of formal and informal practices, as evidenced by formal contracts, petits papiers and a new paper contract. The new paper contract provides tenants the rights to rent the land for up to 25 years. The titling programme also enhanced on-going processes of intensification and commercialisation, as evidenced by increased use of mineral fertiliser and the regression of the OPBCS. The long-duration fallow periods did not improve biological and chemical soil fertility. Long-duration fallows are rather used as an expression of control over land. Mineral fertiliser and organic amendments (household waste) explain lack of effects of fallowing. Application of household waste and mineral fertiliser did not change soil organic matter content. Organic amendments increased maize yields more than mineral fertiliser. Household waste did not improve agronomic use efficiency of mineral fertiliser. I suggest that formal and customary land tenure institutions can be blended to generate a hybrid system. Such a hybrid system might contribute to sustainable soil fertility management.

This thesis deals with the politicized struggles for land in South Africa’s Limpopo Province. With land having been an essential part of colonial and apartheid segregation policies and practice – with 87% of land appropriated by whites –, a land reform programme was imperative after the African National Congress came to power in 1994. One of the three branches of the land reform programme, land restitution, is a key focus of this thesis. It is particular in its goal to do justice to victims of past land dispossessions who lost land rights as result of racially-discriminatory laws by compensating them for this past loss of land and livelihoods. Where compensation for lost rights involves the government buying and redistributing land to groups with historical rights to land, such land deals present particular challenges around the ideal of restorative justice and what is means to ‘bring the past into the present’.

Het hoofddoel van China’s landbouw- en plattelandsbeleid is behoud van voedselzekerheid in eigen land en bijdragen aan de voedselzekerheid in de wereld door duurzaam gebruik van natuurlijke hulpbronnen en verbetering van de landbouwproductiecapaciteit voor de lange termijn. In veel gebieden in China gaat de landbouwproductiecapaciteit op lange termijn echter achteruit door intensieve landbouw en de daarmee gepaard gaande degradatie van de hulpbronnen land en water. Het systeem van grondeigendom speelt, als fundamentele institutie die het gedrag van grondbezitters aanstuurt, een zeer belangrijke rol bij de landbouwproductie alsook bij het gebruik van natuurlijke hulpbronnen, en heeft veel belangstelling genoten van onderzoekers in China en andere regio’s in de wereld. Sinds 1998 heeft de Chinese regering een reeks marktgeoriënteerde hervormingen in het grondeigendom ingevoerd die als doel hebben de eigendomszekerheid te verbeteren en de overdraagbaarheid van rurale grond te bevorderen. Relevante wetten behelzen de Wet Grondbeheer (Land Administration Law) uit 1998, de Wet Contracten Rurale Grond (Rural Land Contract Law) uit 2002, de Eigendomswet (Property Law) uit 2007, en de Wet Mediation en Arbitrage bij Geschillen inzake Contracten Rurale Grond (Mediation and Arbitration of Rural Land Contract Disputes Law) uit 2009. Ofschoon deze hervormingen bijgedragen hebben aan een verbeterde formele eigendomszekerheid, is het niet duidelijk in welke mate ze bijdragen aan landbouwproductie en duurzaam gebruik van de grond. In deze studie worden systematisch de relaties onderzocht tussen grondeigendomszekerheid, zoals die wordt beïnvloed door de recente marktgeoriënteerde eigendomshervormingen, en de landbouwproductie in China. Op basis van de bestaande literatuur worden er vier relaties onderzocht, namelijk de relaties tussen eigendomszekerheid en, respectievelijk, grondinvesteringen, marktontwikkelingen betreffende grondpacht, ruraal-urbane migratie, en landbouwproductiviteit en technische efficiëntie. De resultaten van de studie beogen een volledig beeld te verschaffen van de belangrijkste relaties tussen grondeigendomszekerheid, beslissingen op het niveau van huishoudingen, en de landbouwproductiviteit in China. Naar verwachting zullen de verkregen inzichten relevant zijn voor de voortgaande hervormingen van het rurale grondeigendomsysteem en voor gerelateerd landbouw- en plattelandsbeleid in China. Ze zouden tevens van nut kunnen blijken voor andere ontwikkelingslanden met vergelijkbare eigendomsystemen die als doel hebben om huishoudens op het platteland te voorzien van gewaarborgde formele landgebruiksrechten voor de lange termijn.

Het hoofddoel van China’s landbouw- en plattelandsbeleid is behoud van voedselzekerheid in eigen land en bijdragen aan de voedselzekerheid in de wereld door duurzaam gebruik van natuurlijke hulpbronnen en verbetering van de landbouwproductiecapaciteit voor de lange termijn. In veel gebieden in China gaat de landbouwproductiecapaciteit op lange termijn echter achteruit door intensieve landbouw en de daarmee gepaard gaande degradatie van de hulpbronnen land en water. Het systeem van grondeigendom speelt, als fundamentele institutie die het gedrag van grondbezitters aanstuurt, een zeer belangrijke rol bij de landbouwproductie alsook bij het gebruik van natuurlijke hulpbronnen, en heeft veel belangstelling genoten van onderzoekers in China en andere regio’s in de wereld. Sinds 1998 heeft de Chinese regering een reeks marktgeoriënteerde hervormingen in het grondeigendom ingevoerd die als doel hebben de eigendomszekerheid te verbeteren en de overdraagbaarheid van rurale grond te bevorderen. Relevante wetten behelzen de Wet Grondbeheer (Land Administration Law) uit 1998, de Wet Contracten Rurale Grond (Rural Land Contract Law) uit 2002, de Eigendomswet (Property Law) uit 2007, en de Wet Mediation en Arbitrage bij Geschillen inzake Contracten Rurale Grond (Mediation and Arbitration of Rural Land Contract Disputes Law) uit 2009. Ofschoon deze hervormingen bijgedragen hebben aan een verbeterde formele eigendomszekerheid, is het niet duidelijk in welke mate ze bijdragen aan landbouwproductie en duurzaam gebruik van de grond. In deze studie worden systematisch de relaties onderzocht tussen grondeigendomszekerheid, zoals die wordt beïnvloed door de recente marktgeoriënteerde eigendomshervormingen, en de landbouwproductie in China. Op basis van de bestaande literatuur worden er vier relaties onderzocht, namelijk de relaties tussen eigendomszekerheid en, respectievelijk, grondinvesteringen, marktontwikkelingen betreffende grondpacht, ruraal-urbane migratie, en landbouwproductiviteit en technische efficiëntie. De resultaten van de studie beogen een volledig beeld te verschaffen van de belangrijkste relaties tussen grondeigendomszekerheid, beslissingen op het niveau van huishoudingen, en de landbouwproductiviteit in China. Naar verwachting zullen de verkregen inzichten relevant zijn voor de voortgaande hervormingen van het rurale grondeigendomsysteem en voor gerelateerd landbouw- en plattelandsbeleid in China. Ze zouden tevens van nut kunnen blijken voor andere ontwikkelingslanden met vergelijkbare eigendomsystemen die als doel hebben om huishoudens op het platteland te voorzien van gewaarborgde formele landgebruiksrechten voor de lange termijn.

This thesis deals with the politicized struggles for land in South Africa’s Limpopo Province. With land having been an essential part of colonial and apartheid segregation policies and practice – with 87% of land appropriated by whites –, a land reform programme was imperative after the African National Congress came to power in 1994. One of the three branches of the land reform programme, land restitution, is a key focus of this thesis. It is particular in its goal to do justice to victims of past land dispossessions who lost land rights as result of racially-discriminatory laws by compensating them for this past loss of land and livelihoods. Where compensation for lost rights involves the government buying and redistributing land to groups with historical rights to land, such land deals present particular challenges around the ideal of restorative justice and what is means to ‘bring the past into the present’. Deze dissertatie gaat over gepolitizeerde strijd voor land in de Zuid-Afrikaanse provincie Limpopo. Aangezien land de kern was van het koloniale en apartheidsbeleid van verpaupering en segregatie en van de daarmee gepaard gaande praktijken, waarbij de blanken zich 87% van het land toeëigenden, was landhervorming onontkoombaar nadat het African National Congress in 1994 aan de macht was gekomen. Dit onderzoek concentreert zich op landteruggave (land restitution), een van de drie onderdelen van het landhervormingsprogramma. Landteruggave heeft een bijzonder doel: recht doen aan gemeenschappen wier land voorheen gemeenschapsbezit was door deze groepen te compenseren voor het verlies van land en levensonderhoud als gevolg van racistisch landbeleid. Voor zover compensatie aankoop van land betreft door de regering die het vervolgens distribueert aan groepen met historische rechten op het land, brengen landtransacties bijzondere uitdagingen met zich mee ten aanzien van het ideaal van herstellende gerechtigheid en wat bedoeld wordt met ‘het verleden in het heden brengen’.

This book debates the emergent proprieties of rural and peri-urban South Africa since land and agrarian reforms were initiated after the transition to democracy in 1994. It explores how these reforms have broadened options for the use of land and natural resources. Reform-minded policies in South Africa have assumed that if access to land and other natural resources is less problematic, the use of these resources would be intensified which in turn would alter the structure and dynamic of rural and urban poverty. Reforming Land and Resource Use in South Africa examines in detail, and from several disciplinary perspectives, whether and how this has occurred, and if not, why not. A key argument that this collection pursues is whether land reform has resulted in transformed use of natural (i.e. land, crops, cattle, rangeland, wild products etc.) and other strategic resources (labour, knowledge, institutions, networks etc.), and the value communities and household place on them. The contributions explore a combination of new or alternative meanings of land, including a look beyond crops and cattle per se to include the collection and selling of wild products, as well as a discussion of how land for agriculture has become redefined by land reform beneficiaries as urban land, for settlement and urban employment opportunities, in addition to urban-based agricultural activities. This book pursues an analysis of land reform dynamics at various levels of aggregation. National and regional level analyses of poverty and the ramifications of the property clause are combined with analyses at disaggregate levels such as the land reform project or village.

This book debates the emergent proprieties of rural and peri-urban South Africa since land and agrarian reforms were initiated after the transition to democracy in 1994. It explores how these reforms have broadened options for the use of land and natural resources. Reform-minded policies in South Africa have assumed that if access to land and other natural resources is less problematic, the use of these resources would be intensified which in turn would alter the structure and dynamic of rural and urban poverty. Reforming Land and Resource Use in South Africa examines in detail, and from several disciplinary perspectives, whether and how this has occurred, and if not, why not. A key argument that this collection pursues is whether land reform has resulted in transformed use of natural (i.e. land, crops, cattle, rangeland, wild products etc.) and other strategic resources (labour, knowledge, institutions, networks etc.), and the value communities and household place on them. The contributions explore a combination of new or alternative meanings of land, including a look beyond crops and cattle per se to include the collection and selling of wild products, as well as a discussion of how land for agriculture has become redefined by land reform beneficiaries as urban land, for settlement and urban employment opportunities, in addition to urban-based agricultural activities. This book pursues an analysis of land reform dynamics at various levels of aggregation. National and regional level analyses of poverty and the ramifications of the property clause are combined with analyses at disaggregate levels such as the land reform project or village.

Een veelvoorkomend probleem in de landdynamiek is dat na verloop van tijd kennis vordert, technologie ontwikkelt en beleidsdoelstellingen veranderen. Dit betekent dat met elke kartering die wordt uitgevoerd, met een voor dat doel specifiek ontworpen classificatie, een nieuwe basis dataset wordt gemaakt in plaats van een continue gegevensreeks. Verschillen in de naamgeving van klassen, veranderingen in de definitie van de klasse, en de toevoeging of verwijdering van de klassen in de datasets over hetzelfde gebied in verschillende periodes leveren problemen op in de scheiding van de feitelijke veranderingen in de tijd van klaarblijkelijke veranderingen in de definities van categorieën. In de praktijk zullen de resultaten van verschillende onderzoeken echter moeten worden geharmoniseerd in tijd en ruimte.

Markets are increasingly seen as vehicles to solve problems in developing countries. For example, improvements in market performance make potentially important contributions to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Access of smallholders to well-functioning markets is increasingly expected to contribute to poverty alleviation and improvement of both food security and environmental sustainability. This book presents the views of leading experts on where we stand and where we are heading in the field of markets, marketing and developing countries. Twenty essays in this book describe the role of marketing in achieving development goals, the track record of past market policies, the current functioning of value chains, the roles that market institutions play to facilitate market access for smallholders, as well as the potential to add value to farm produce through certification schemes, new technologies or innovation systems. The book is published in honour of the retirement of Aad van Tilburg, one of the pioneers in the field of marketing in developing countries. Early on in his career Van Tilburg recognised that improvements in the functioning of markets and marketing can be key to economic development with special reference to the livelihood of small producers and other market actors in developing countries.

Markets are increasingly seen as vehicles to solve problems in developing countries. For example, improvements in market performance make potentially important contributions to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Access of smallholders to well-functioning markets is increasingly expected to contribute to poverty alleviation and improvement of both food security and environmental sustainability. This book presents the views of leading experts on where we stand and where we are heading in the field of markets, marketing and developing countries. Twenty essays in this book describe the role of marketing in achieving development goals, the track record of past market policies, the current functioning of value chains, the roles that market institutions play to facilitate market access for smallholders, as well as the potential to add value to farm produce through certification schemes, new technologies or innovation systems. The book is published in honour of the retirement of Aad van Tilburg, one of the pioneers in the field of marketing in developing countries. Early on in his career Van Tilburg recognised that improvements in the functioning of markets and marketing can be key to economic development with special reference to the livelihood of small producers and other market actors in developing countries.

Een veelvoorkomend probleem in de landdynamiek is dat na verloop van tijd kennis vordert, technologie ontwikkelt en beleidsdoelstellingen veranderen. Dit betekent dat met elke kartering die wordt uitgevoerd, met een voor dat doel specifiek ontworpen classificatie, een nieuwe basis dataset wordt gemaakt in plaats van een continue gegevensreeks. Verschillen in de naamgeving van klassen, veranderingen in de definitie van de klasse, en de toevoeging of verwijdering van de klassen in de datasets over hetzelfde gebied in verschillende periodes leveren problemen op in de scheiding van de feitelijke veranderingen in de tijd van klaarblijkelijke veranderingen in de definities van categorieën. In de praktijk zullen de resultaten van verschillende onderzoeken echter moeten worden geharmoniseerd in tijd en ruimte.

This research is an ethnographic study carried out among farmers inMupfurudziresettlement area inZimbabweover a period of 30 months. The research was carried out inShamvaZimbabwe as an offshoot of an IFPRIstudy I had been involved in, accessing the impact of agricultural research on poverty reduction with a particular focus on High Yielding Varieties (HYVs) of Maize in Zimbabwe.The multi-disciplinary study looked at the pathways of dissemination of knowledge about hybrid maize. As the study progressed and I was confronted with situations in the field, I decided that there was a need to go beyond this rather narrow angle of study to look at the production, growth and dissemination of knowledge about farming in general and not just focus on maize cultivation as a poverty reduction strategy.The main research question that informed this research was: how knowledge is produced, reproduced, socialised and reworked in farming areas and how locally existing conditions filter themselves into the new practices. Hence the research aimed to accomplish three aims: (1) to analyse how social processes impact on the adoption, adaptation and dissemination of knowledge and technology; (2) To investigate how differences between actors (e.g. based on age, gender, social and economic standing, institutional affiliation, and the knowledge networks used by various actors) can impact on knowledge dissemination and appropriation; (3) To explore existing knowledge frameworks affect knowledge analysis and acceptance and how people bridge the gap between 'outside' and 'local' forms of knowledge.The main research method employed in this study was the ethnographic method with a focus on case studies. The case studies were based on detailed observation of the families throughout the year. I spent thirty-months in the field, covering two agricultural cycles. The principal research technique was participant observation focusing on the collection of extended case studies and life histories In-depth interviews, observation and participation constituted the main data gathering process. During the early days I had in-depth discussions with various members of the households in the sample, depending on who was available at that moment. At times I had to make special requests to speak to other members of the household, such as women and children. Ethnographic interviews (which were largely unstructured and extensive) were also important for data gathering especially when looking at household dynamics in respect of the process of knowledge formation.The research led to different conclusions. Firstly the thing that came out clearly was that usually government ignores the interests of farmers in the interests of some abstract concept of development that they develop in research institutions. As a result farmers are recruited into projects they have little interests in and the projects fail. To be successful experts have to incorporate the farmers' views into their projects. Depending on where actors are socially situated they observe things and interpret them differently, such that the same thing can be attributed to different causal factors Rural development workers must not be overly scientific ignoring the different perceptions and meanings that people attach to activities and interventions, since this can spell the failure of scientifically sound projects. For intervention to be effective, AREX and other 'experts' should understand the people's belief systems and the meanings they attach to certain things.It also became clear that farmers strategise in their dealings with other actors and agents they do not follow blindly whatever the expert says and neither did they divorce themselves altogether from 'knowledge experts'. They employed various linking and de-linking strategies in an attempt to maximise their gains from each encounter. Power is always contested and negotiated. Local farmers are not always powerless and dependent and neither is the state always powerful and dominant. Although farmers recognised that the control of government they did not regard it as an entity that had to be obeyed all the time.It is a conclusion of this study that knowledge is not always positive for the people who are equipped with it. Although modern scientific knowledge is very efficient, it has made farmers more dependent on agro-business as opposed to the independence they had enjoyed when all the resources were locally available. It was not only scientific knowledge that was disempowering to the farmer but even local knowledge also restricted farmers in certain ways.Farming knowledge is not only about the practice of farming but also about the knowledge of politics, resistance, economics, how to resolve conflicts and knowledge of witchcraft, magic and religion. An ability to tread the delicate ground between knowledge, politics and economics is an essential tool for the rural development worker otherwise his or her effectiveness is limited.The fragmentary and contradictory nature of knowledge allowed farmers to manoeuvre within their social system and to negotiate to their advantage. This allowed farmers to work with a multiplicity of understandings, beliefs and commitments enabling them to bridge the gap between external and local knowledge. It is sustained therefore in this study that one cannot distinguish between different forms of knowledge but knowledge should be regarded as an outcome of negotiations that take place between actors and theirlifeworlds

This research is an ethnographic study carried out among farmers inMupfurudziresettlement area inZimbabweover a period of 30 months. The research was carried out inShamvaZimbabwe as an offshoot of an IFPRIstudy I had been involved in, accessing the impact of agricultural research on poverty reduction with a particular focus on High Yielding Varieties (HYVs) of Maize in Zimbabwe.The multi-disciplinary study looked at the pathways of dissemination of knowledge about hybrid maize. As the study progressed and I was confronted with situations in the field, I decided that there was a need to go beyond this rather narrow angle of study to look at the production, growth and dissemination of knowledge about farming in general and not just focus on maize cultivation as a poverty reduction strategy.The main research question that informed this research was: how knowledge is produced, reproduced, socialised and reworked in farming areas and how locally existing conditions filter themselves into the new practices. Hence the research aimed to accomplish three aims: (1) to analyse how social processes impact on the adoption, adaptation and dissemination of knowledge and technology; (2) To investigate how differences between actors (e.g. based on age, gender, social and economic standing, institutional affiliation, and the knowledge networks used by various actors) can impact on knowledge dissemination and appropriation; (3) To explore existing knowledge frameworks affect knowledge analysis and acceptance and how people bridge the gap between 'outside' and 'local' forms of knowledge.The main research method employed in this study was the ethnographic method with a focus on case studies. The case studies were based on detailed observation of the families throughout the year. I spent thirty-months in the field, covering two agricultural cycles. The principal research technique was participant observation focusing on the collection of extended case studies and life histories In-depth interviews, observation and participation constituted the main data gathering process. During the early days I had in-depth discussions with various members of the households in the sample, depending on who was available at that moment. At times I had to make special requests to speak to other members of the household, such as women and children. Ethnographic interviews (which were largely unstructured and extensive) were also important for data gathering especially when looking at household dynamics in respect of the process of knowledge formation.The research led to different conclusions. Firstly the thing that came out clearly was that usually government ignores the interests of farmers in the interests of some abstract concept of development that they develop in research institutions. As a result farmers are recruited into projects they have little interests in and the projects fail. To be successful experts have to incorporate the farmers' views into their projects. Depending on where actors are socially situated they observe things and interpret them differently, such that the same thing can be attributed to different causal factors Rural development workers must not be overly scientific ignoring the different perceptions and meanings that people attach to activities and interventions, since this can spell the failure of scientifically sound projects. For intervention to be effective, AREX and other 'experts' should understand the people's belief systems and the meanings they attach to certain things.It also became clear that farmers strategise in their dealings with other actors and agents they do not follow blindly whatever the expert says and neither did they divorce themselves altogether from 'knowledge experts'. They employed various linking and de-linking strategies in an attempt to maximise their gains from each encounter. Power is always contested and negotiated. Local farmers are not always powerless and dependent and neither is the state always powerful and dominant. Although farmers recognised that the control of government they did not regard it as an entity that had to be obeyed all the time.It is a conclusion of this study that knowledge is not always positive for the people who are equipped with it. Although modern scientific knowledge is very efficient, it has made farmers more dependent on agro-business as opposed to the independence they had enjoyed when all the resources were locally available. It was not only scientific knowledge that was disempowering to the farmer but even local knowledge also restricted farmers in certain ways.Farming knowledge is not only about the practice of farming but also about the knowledge of politics, resistance, economics, how to resolve conflicts and knowledge of witchcraft, magic and religion. An ability to tread the delicate ground between knowledge, politics and economics is an essential tool for the rural development worker otherwise his or her effectiveness is limited.The fragmentary and contradictory nature of knowledge allowed farmers to manoeuvre within their social system and to negotiate to their advantage. This allowed farmers to work with a multiplicity of understandings, beliefs and commitments enabling them to bridge the gap between external and local knowledge. It is sustained therefore in this study that one cannot distinguish between different forms of knowledge but knowledge should be regarded as an outcome of negotiations that take place between actors and theirlifeworlds

The consolidation of the democratic institutions inBrazilin the last twenty years has been followed by the empowerment of the popular organisations that started to demand the implementation of projects of land reform and rural settlements by means of the installation of camps [ acampamentos ] in the vicinity of the areas in dispute. The effectiveness of these strategies led to the creation of rural settlements for nearly 500 thousand families. This book evaluates the main aspects of the Brazilian agrarian history and analyses the restoration of work and agricultural production in the Settlement Fazenda Reunidas , started in 1987 in themunicipalityofPromissão(São PauloState).Chapters 2 and 3 underline the demographic dimension of the agrarian question and evaluate the policies of slave importation during the colonial period and some experiences, in the nineteenth century, aiming at the underpinning of free work relations, especially with European immigrants. The permanence of land concentration was associated to a kind of social and political control. A population increase in the countryside as well as in the city is noticed. This began to change in the midst of the twentieth century: the rural complex was being gradually decreased and an agroindustrial complex took place, together with the modernisation of agricultural production and a rapid and massive exodus of rural workers towards regional and national urban centres. The unbalance between the reduction in rural employment and the capacity to generate employment in the urban-industrial sector resulted in a rapid increase urban poverty and misery.Chapter 4 shows that in the transition from the military regime to the democratic-parliamentaryone, the modernisation process was maintained, despite the attenuation of the State intervention in agricultural production. On the other hand, the emergence of popular organisations, the spread of the camps and the occurrence of social confrontations led to a broadening of state policies for land distribution. The conditions and limits of land distribution and credit policies for family farming and rural settlements are analysed in their relation to the social and political conflicts resulting from popular mobilisations.Chapter 5 evaluates the land policies which resulted in the settlement of nearly ten thousand families in the State of São Paulo till the end of the 90's, with an emphasis on the local disputes which originated the Settlement Fazenda Reunidas, in the municipality of Promissão.Some theoretical and political considerations on the local forms of individual and collective action as related to modernisation of the agricultural production as well as to endogenous development practices in the agriculturalproduction,are among the subjects introduced in Chapter 1 and rediscussed along the other chapters, especially in those that bring the results of the field research. Chapter 6 emphasises that the state-owned credit lines for the settlement of Promissão imply a certain channelling into the modernisation of the agricultural production, through the production of grains and fibres on large scale, in which there is a dependency in relation to the supply of external/mercantile technologies and inputs originating from agro-industry. The inconsistencies and contradictions of such policies, founded on the specific short-term credit lines, caused a high insolvency among the settlers.In this problematic political and institutional context, the settlers developed production processes that increased the absorption of labour and intensified the generation of income per unit of land and/or of product. Chapter 7 analyses these productive processes through the concept of endogenous development. There is an emphasis on the importance of different means of labour within the agricultural productionprocess,special attention is given to the accumulation of a permanent basis of productive resources. This is illustrated, for example, by the growth of permanent crops (coffee and fruit) and animal breeding (notably dairy farming), and the making of buildings and installations (fences, stables, greenhouses, warehouses, a farmyard for drying coffee), that demand not only an intensive use of family labour, but also the investment of a certain amount of financial resources for the acquisition of raw material, machinery and equipment (irrigation, grinders, micro-tractors, hydraulics systems, means of transportation). These productive processes also admit the elaboration of several initiatives aiming at the substitution of the use of short cycle agro-industrial inputs for activities carried out with relative autonomy inside the lots, especially regarding the reproduction or improvement of soil fertility.Chapter 8 indicates some of the social impacts of this historical process of interaction and confrontation between the government policies and the production projects delineated locally by the settlers in Promissão. Empirical information derived from a sample of 55 families lead to estimate that there is, on average, the generation of approximately three direct jobs in agricultural production for a group that represents somewhat more than 60% of the total of the settled families. As for the other families, almost 40% of the total, the absorption of work inside each lot did not reach one person full time. Through these estimates it is possible to interpret phenomena such as the lease of land in the settlement (mainly for the external actors connected to the production of grains and fibres or to the extensive cattle breeding), the evasion of youngsters and the proletarianisation of part of the families.The development of endogenous practices of agricultural production articulates in an interesting way with the production of food for self-consumption. Chapter 9 demonstrates that the families that are most successful in commercial agricultural production are also those that are obtaining high yields and considerable diversification in the production of food for family consumption. Information gathered in the settlement proved that the improvement in food autonomy increases substantially the indices of nutritional adequacy among the settlers.Chapter 10 focuses on the interaction of the local organisations with state policies and the relations of the settlers with the market agents. It is noted that the state policies for the strengthening of the co-operatives in the settlement were also marked by a strong guidance on the large-scale production of grains, through a prescription of the acquisition of machinery and equipment. Similarly, the formulation of development projects by the most important organisation at national level (also present the settlement), the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem-Terra (MST), evidenced a centralisation in the planning of the activities and an alignment with the technological patterns of agricultural modernisation, although proposing at the same time the collectivisation and the agro-industrialisation of the activities. The field research examines the creation and transformations of the local organisations in the settlement, highlighting their political interactions and their potential for transforming the production processes and the relations between the settlers and the market agents.

The consolidation of the democratic institutions inBrazilin the last twenty years has been followed by the empowerment of the popular organisations that started to demand the implementation of projects of land reform and rural settlements by means of the installation of camps [ acampamentos ] in the vicinity of the areas in dispute. The effectiveness of these strategies led to the creation of rural settlements for nearly 500 thousand families. This book evaluates the main aspects of the Brazilian agrarian history and analyses the restoration of work and agricultural production in the Settlement Fazenda Reunidas , started in 1987 in themunicipalityofPromissão(São PauloState).Chapters 2 and 3 underline the demographic dimension of the agrarian question and evaluate the policies of slave importation during the colonial period and some experiences, in the nineteenth century, aiming at the underpinning of free work relations, especially with European immigrants. The permanence of land concentration was associated to a kind of social and political control. A population increase in the countryside as well as in the city is noticed. This began to change in the midst of the twentieth century: the rural complex was being gradually decreased and an agroindustrial complex took place, together with the modernisation of agricultural production and a rapid and massive exodus of rural workers towards regional and national urban centres. The unbalance between the reduction in rural employment and the capacity to generate employment in the urban-industrial sector resulted in a rapid increase urban poverty and misery.Chapter 4 shows that in the transition from the military regime to the democratic-parliamentaryone, the modernisation process was maintained, despite the attenuation of the State intervention in agricultural production. On the other hand, the emergence of popular organisations, the spread of the camps and the occurrence of social confrontations led to a broadening of state policies for land distribution. The conditions and limits of land distribution and credit policies for family farming and rural settlements are analysed in their relation to the social and political conflicts resulting from popular mobilisations.Chapter 5 evaluates the land policies which resulted in the settlement of nearly ten thousand families in the State of São Paulo till the end of the 90's, with an emphasis on the local disputes which originated the Settlement Fazenda Reunidas, in the municipality of Promissão.Some theoretical and political considerations on the local forms of individual and collective action as related to modernisation of the agricultural production as well as to endogenous development practices in the agriculturalproduction,are among the subjects introduced in Chapter 1 and rediscussed along the other chapters, especially in those that bring the results of the field research. Chapter 6 emphasises that the state-owned credit lines for the settlement of Promissão imply a certain channelling into the modernisation of the agricultural production, through the production of grains and fibres on large scale, in which there is a dependency in relation to the supply of external/mercantile technologies and inputs originating from agro-industry. The inconsistencies and contradictions of such policies, founded on the specific short-term credit lines, caused a high insolvency among the settlers.In this problematic political and institutional context, the settlers developed production processes that increased the absorption of labour and intensified the generation of income per unit of land and/or of product. Chapter 7 analyses these productive processes through the concept of endogenous development. There is an emphasis on the importance of different means of labour within the agricultural productionprocess,special attention is given to the accumulation of a permanent basis of productive resources. This is illustrated, for example, by the growth of permanent crops (coffee and fruit) and animal breeding (notably dairy farming), and the making of buildings and installations (fences, stables, greenhouses, warehouses, a farmyard for drying coffee), that demand not only an intensive use of family labour, but also the investment of a certain amount of financial resources for the acquisition of raw material, machinery and equipment (irrigation, grinders, micro-tractors, hydraulics systems, means of transportation). These productive processes also admit the elaboration of several initiatives aiming at the substitution of the use of short cycle agro-industrial inputs for activities carried out with relative autonomy inside the lots, especially regarding the reproduction or improvement of soil fertility.Chapter 8 indicates some of the social impacts of this historical process of interaction and confrontation between the government policies and the production projects delineated locally by the settlers in Promissão. Empirical information derived from a sample of 55 families lead to estimate that there is, on average, the generation of approximately three direct jobs in agricultural production for a group that represents somewhat more than 60% of the total of the settled families. As for the other families, almost 40% of the total, the absorption of work inside each lot did not reach one person full time. Through these estimates it is possible to interpret phenomena such as the lease of land in the settlement (mainly for the external actors connected to the production of grains and fibres or to the extensive cattle breeding), the evasion of youngsters and the proletarianisation of part of the families.The development of endogenous practices of agricultural production articulates in an interesting way with the production of food for self-consumption. Chapter 9 demonstrates that the families that are most successful in commercial agricultural production are also those that are obtaining high yields and considerable diversification in the production of food for family consumption. Information gathered in the settlement proved that the improvement in food autonomy increases substantially the indices of nutritional adequacy among the settlers.Chapter 10 focuses on the interaction of the local organisations with state policies and the relations of the settlers with the market agents. It is noted that the state policies for the strengthening of the co-operatives in the settlement were also marked by a strong guidance on the large-scale production of grains, through a prescription of the acquisition of machinery and equipment. Similarly, the formulation of development projects by the most important organisation at national level (also present the settlement), the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem-Terra (MST), evidenced a centralisation in the planning of the activities and an alignment with the technological patterns of agricultural modernisation, although proposing at the same time the collectivisation and the agro-industrialisation of the activities. The field research examines the creation and transformations of the local organisations in the settlement, highlighting their political interactions and their potential for transforming the production processes and the relations between the settlers and the market agents.

This study reconstructs the process of land redistribution in an indigenous region of Chiapas, the Tojolabal Highlands, situated between the better known Central Highlands and the Lacandona Rainforest. Until 1930 this region was dominated by large private estates or fincas , owned by families from Comitán. Usually 3000 ha in size, these fincas were dedicated to cattle ranching and some agriculture. The ancestors of the present inhabitants of the region, most of whom are Tojolabal Indians, lived and worked on the estates as peons, landless labourers who received no or little wages.In the early 1930s, this situation changed dramatically as president Lázaro Cárdenas sought to implement land reforms throughout Mexico. He made no exception for Chiapas and in the region of study the effects of his policy were soon felt. After some initial hesitation, the peons filed one request for land endowment after another. In less than fifteen years, the extent of land controlled by the estates dropped to fifty percent and this trend continued. By 1970, only ten percent of the land remained in the hands of private, non-indigenous landowners and by 1993 this had fallen to three per cent. Most of these lands had been given out to the former resident peons in the form of so-called ejidos , giving groups of at least twenty peasants joint control over the land which they are not allowed to sell or lease. Other lands were sold by the original owners to groups of peasants, usually former peons. More recently, these lands have been converted to a communal tenure regime ( bienes comunales ).As a consequence of land reform, the fincas in the region gave way to peasant communities with an almost exclusively Tojolabal population. (By 1990 the region comprised some 26 localities with a total population of approximately 15,000 individuals). This study started by asking how this process had taken place and what implications it had for the population. In my search for answers to these questions, I found I was entering largely unexplored terrain. In the literature on Chiapas, land reform is commonly treated as a very limited phenomenon. It is generally assumed that the landowners held such power that they managed to neutralise or minimise the threats to their property. Most scholarly attention has focussed on the redistribution of national lands (to which no private titles existed) and on piecemeal land redistribution as part of manipulative political strategies to keep the peasantry in check. Against this background, the lack of land reform is usually cited as one of the root causes of the Zapatista uprising of 1994. The limits of land reform since the 1970s and the gross abuses that have characterised it, partly justify this perspective. However, it loses sight of the fact that in some regions of Chiapas land reform was extensive and had profound political and social consequences. For the region of study, land reform was one of the most important processes in contemporary history.I explored the process of land reform in the Tojolabal Highlands on the basis of extensive archival study as well as field work. This allowed me to establish that eighty percent of the land redistributed was drawn from private estates and the remaining twenty per cent from national lands. I also found that although the landowners had opposed land redistribution, they had been unable to effectively counter it. In fact, land redistribution was so successful that virtually the entire region was converted to ejidos . Not only had the ejido (and to a lesser extent communal property) displaced private property as the main tenure regime, but the Tojolabal communities had also undeniably acquired the appearance of ejidos . They have come to display all the necessary attributes of ejidos , such as the comisariado ejidal (the head of the ejido -members), regular meetings, and written agreements endorsed with the ejido seal. Today, the ejido is an important referent of identity in the region and the ejido features mentioned above are now considered 'typically Tojolabal'.Land reform was more than a redistribution of land. It contributed to the formation of Tojolabal communities as we know them today and played a crucial role in the development of the conflictive relations between these communities and the Mexican state. The present communities are partly a product of land reform. Although there was some continuity between 'fincas' and ' ejidos ' in terms of the land and population involved, land reform involved considerable re-definitions, re-grouping and in some cases, re-localisation. As a consequence, social relations were re-structured around the land endowments. In this process, the land reform beneficiaries adopted the ejido model that the state offered, but also re-worked it. Although conditioned 'from above', land reform also involved processes of appropriation 'from below'.This becomes especially clear when we observe the ways in which land tenure is organised within communities. I found, for example, that communities used their own lists of right-holders to land that differed from the official records held by the land reform bureaucracy. Communities re-defined and re-assigned land rights to individual members in relatively autonomous ways, relying only partly on the norms as these are formally prescribed. In practice, communities exerted a considerable degree of control both within the field of land tenure and beyond it. This governing capacity is exercised not only with regard to their own members but also vis-à-vis the state land reform bureaucracy. The latter's legal authority to regulate land tenure within ejido -communities is challenged in many ways. Land tenure thus emerges as a field of contention between different and at times opposing claims to control, in which not only different notions of property, but also rival attempts to define and assign land rights are confronted. In the thesis, this is illustrated through the detailed analysis of a conflict between two factions within a community.In recent years, resistance to state control has become more explicit than ever as well as part of a more articulate political project. This is best understood against the background of - with the increasing politicisation of state intervention since the 1970s - political identities increasingly taking shape in opposition to the state. Since 1994, the Zapatistas have made the limits to state control painfully clear. This is probably best illustrated with reference to the land occupations that have taken place in the wake of the uprising and that have obliged the state to endorse a new phase of land redistribution belying all official declarations concerning the 'end of land reform'. Furthermore, through the so-called autonomous municipalities the Zapatistas have managed to develop a considerable governing capacity beyond the reach of the state.The processes described above contain a certain paradox, especially if contemplated from the view - put forward by Mexican authors since the 1970s - that land reform is essentially an instrument of political control in the hands of the state. Although this perspective has been valuable in pointing out the importance of hidden agendas in land reform, it does not explain how land reform could at the same time have been so successful in creating ejidos and so obviously have failed to control the latter. To account for the paradox we need to develop a perspective that moves beyond the focus on state control and also addresses the multiple contestations that land reform has involved. Recent works on processes of state formation in Mexico are particularly promising for elaborating such a perspective. This approach suggests we might understand land reform as part of attempts by the state to extend its reach to new regions, but with dissimilar and contradictory results. From this vantage point we can explore how the state engaged with specific regions, re-defining relations of property and authority and generating multiple contestations and re-negotiations. Processes of state formation have a dual nature that is also relevant in the case of land reform. While it informs and penetrates local cultural and institutional repertoires, in doing so it also provides some of the central terms around which resistance to the state becomes articulated. We can thus begin to understand some of the complex and contradictory consequences of the creation of ejidos in the region of study. Furthermore, such a perspective points to the role of land reform itself in the constitution of communities as spaces from which the state is resisted and challenged.These arguments are developed throughout the book, along three narrative lines. In the first place, the book tells the history of a particular community, San Miguel Chibtik. The efforts of the Chibtikeros to obtain the land they had worked for generations, the ways they developed of administering and distributing these lands amongst community members, and their participation in land occupations under the banner of Zapatismo as of 1994, run through the text. These experiences provide entry points for discussing three related processes: the geography and politics of land redistribution in the region (Chapters Two and Three), the development of institutional arrangements and governing practices concerning land in the communities of land reform beneficiaries (Chapters Four and Five) and land occupations in recent years as part of the Zapatista political project (Chapters Six and Seven). The analysis of these processes constitutes the second narrative line. Finally, on a third level, the text may be read as an exploration of the numerous ways in which - through land reform- the Mexican state reached into the region. The study thus provides a window onto one of the principal routes of state formation in eastern Chiapas. This perspective, as well as the conceptual considerations on which it rests, are developed in Chapter Eight.

This study reconstructs the process of land redistribution in an indigenous region of Chiapas, the Tojolabal Highlands, situated between the better known Central Highlands and the Lacandona Rainforest. Until 1930 this region was dominated by large private estates or fincas , owned by families from Comitán. Usually 3000 ha in size, these fincas were dedicated to cattle ranching and some agriculture. The ancestors of the present inhabitants of the region, most of whom are Tojolabal Indians, lived and worked on the estates as peons, landless labourers who received no or little wages.In the early 1930s, this situation changed dramatically as president Lázaro Cárdenas sought to implement land reforms throughout Mexico. He made no exception for Chiapas and in the region of study the effects of his policy were soon felt. After some initial hesitation, the peons filed one request for land endowment after another. In less than fifteen years, the extent of land controlled by the estates dropped to fifty percent and this trend continued. By 1970, only ten percent of the land remained in the hands of private, non-indigenous landowners and by 1993 this had fallen to three per cent. Most of these lands had been given out to the former resident peons in the form of so-called ejidos , giving groups of at least twenty peasants joint control over the land which they are not allowed to sell or lease. Other lands were sold by the original owners to groups of peasants, usually former peons. More recently, these lands have been converted to a communal tenure regime ( bienes comunales ).As a consequence of land reform, the fincas in the region gave way to peasant communities with an almost exclusively Tojolabal population. (By 1990 the region comprised some 26 localities with a total population of approximately 15,000 individuals). This study started by asking how this process had taken place and what implications it had for the population. In my search for answers to these questions, I found I was entering largely unexplored terrain. In the literature on Chiapas, land reform is commonly treated as a very limited phenomenon. It is generally assumed that the landowners held such power that they managed to neutralise or minimise the threats to their property. Most scholarly attention has focussed on the redistribution of national lands (to which no private titles existed) and on piecemeal land redistribution as part of manipulative political strategies to keep the peasantry in check. Against this background, the lack of land reform is usually cited as one of the root causes of the Zapatista uprising of 1994. The limits of land reform since the 1970s and the gross abuses that have characterised it, partly justify this perspective. However, it loses sight of the fact that in some regions of Chiapas land reform was extensive and had profound political and social consequences. For the region of study, land reform was one of the most important processes in contemporary history.I explored the process of land reform in the Tojolabal Highlands on the basis of extensive archival study as well as field work. This allowed me to establish that eighty percent of the land redistributed was drawn from private estates and the remaining twenty per cent from national lands. I also found that although the landowners had opposed land redistribution, they had been unable to effectively counter it. In fact, land redistribution was so successful that virtually the entire region was converted to ejidos . Not only had the ejido (and to a lesser extent communal property) displaced private property as the main tenure regime, but the Tojolabal communities had also undeniably acquired the appearance of ejidos . They have come to display all the necessary attributes of ejidos , such as the comisariado ejidal (the head of the ejido -members), regular meetings, and written agreements endorsed with the ejido seal. Today, the ejido is an important referent of identity in the region and the ejido features mentioned above are now considered 'typically Tojolabal'.Land reform was more than a redistribution of land. It contributed to the formation of Tojolabal communities as we know them today and played a crucial role in the development of the conflictive relations between these communities and the Mexican state. The present communities are partly a product of land reform. Although there was some continuity between 'fincas' and ' ejidos ' in terms of the land and population involved, land reform involved considerable re-definitions, re-grouping and in some cases, re-localisation. As a consequence, social relations were re-structured around the land endowments. In this process, the land reform beneficiaries adopted the ejido model that the state offered, but also re-worked it. Although conditioned 'from above', land reform also involved processes of appropriation 'from below'.This becomes especially clear when we observe the ways in which land tenure is organised within communities. I found, for example, that communities used their own lists of right-holders to land that differed from the official records held by the land reform bureaucracy. Communities re-defined and re-assigned land rights to individual members in relatively autonomous ways, relying only partly on the norms as these are formally prescribed. In practice, communities exerted a considerable degree of control both within the field of land tenure and beyond it. This governing capacity is exercised not only with regard to their own members but also vis-à-vis the state land reform bureaucracy. The latter's legal authority to regulate land tenure within ejido -communities is challenged in many ways. Land tenure thus emerges as a field of contention between different and at times opposing claims to control, in which not only different notions of property, but also rival attempts to define and assign land rights are confronted. In the thesis, this is illustrated through the detailed analysis of a conflict between two factions within a community.In recent years, resistance to state control has become more explicit than ever as well as part of a more articulate political project. This is best understood against the background of - with the increasing politicisation of state intervention since the 1970s - political identities increasingly taking shape in opposition to the state. Since 1994, the Zapatistas have made the limits to state control painfully clear. This is probably best illustrated with reference to the land occupations that have taken place in the wake of the uprising and that have obliged the state to endorse a new phase of land redistribution belying all official declarations concerning the 'end of land reform'. Furthermore, through the so-called autonomous municipalities the Zapatistas have managed to develop a considerable governing capacity beyond the reach of the state.The processes described above contain a certain paradox, especially if contemplated from the view - put forward by Mexican authors since the 1970s - that land reform is essentially an instrument of political control in the hands of the state. Although this perspective has been valuable in pointing out the importance of hidden agendas in land reform, it does not explain how land reform could at the same time have been so successful in creating ejidos and so obviously have failed to control the latter. To account for the paradox we need to develop a perspective that moves beyond the focus on state control and also addresses the multiple contestations that land reform has involved. Recent works on processes of state formation in Mexico are particularly promising for elaborating such a perspective. This approach suggests we might understand land reform as part of attempts by the state to extend its reach to new regions, but with dissimilar and contradictory results. From this vantage point we can explore how the state engaged with specific regions, re-defining relations of property and authority and generating multiple contestations and re-negotiations. Processes of state formation have a dual nature that is also relevant in the case of land reform. While it informs and penetrates local cultural and institutional repertoires, in doing so it also provides some of the central terms around which resistance to the state becomes articulated. We can thus begin to understand some of the complex and contradictory consequences of the creation of ejidos in the region of study. Furthermore, such a perspective points to the role of land reform itself in the constitution of communities as spaces from which the state is resisted and challenged.These arguments are developed throughout the book, along three narrative lines. In the first place, the book tells the history of a particular community, San Miguel Chibtik. The efforts of the Chibtikeros to obtain the land they had worked for generations, the ways they developed of administering and distributing these lands amongst community members, and their participation in land occupations under the banner of Zapatismo as of 1994, run through the text. These experiences provide entry points for discussing three related processes: the geography and politics of land redistribution in the region (Chapters Two and Three), the development of institutional arrangements and governing practices concerning land in the communities of land reform beneficiaries (Chapters Four and Five) and land occupations in recent years as part of the Zapatista political project (Chapters Six and Seven). The analysis of these processes constitutes the second narrative line. Finally, on a third level, the text may be read as an exploration of the numerous ways in which - through land reform- the Mexican state reached into the region. The study thus provides a window onto one of the principal routes of state formation in eastern Chiapas. This perspective, as well as the conceptual considerations on which it rests, are developed in Chapter Eight.

Rural development is now considered almost synonymous with involvement in market exchange. When market and institutional failures prevail, however, rural communities increasingly rely on local institutional or contractual arrangements to guarantee their livelihoods. This book offers a comprehensive review of the debate on the importance of real markets in the Central American rural development process.

Rural development is now considered almost synonymous with involvement in market exchange. When market and institutional failures prevail, however, rural communities increasingly rely on local institutional or contractual arrangements to guarantee their livelihoods. This book offers a comprehensive review of the debate on the importance of real markets in the Central American rural development process.

This study is based on research carried out during several periods from mid 1991 to mid 1995 in the ejido La Canoa in Jalisco, western Mexico, and in several government agencies. The study focuses in particular on the period between the 1930s and 1992 when the Mexican agrarian law was fundamentally changed. The last chapters of the book discuss the change of the agrarian law in 1992.The study shows how over the years organizing practices developed with respect to the access to ejido plots and the management of the ejido which differed from the prescriptions of the law. For example, the division of the arable plots, the selling of these plots, renting them out, or leaving them unused were all illegal practices which became common in ejidos throughout Mexico. It also became a common phenomenon that instead of the ejido assembly, in which all ejidatarios are represented, the head of the ejido, the commissioner, took decisions on his own. Likewise, the rules were also seldom applied in the resolution of land conflicts by the Ministry of Agrarian Reform (MAR). Land conflicts between ejidatarios and private land owners abound and many have never been resolved. In this study the conflict of the "lost land" is discussed. This concerns a conflict over land that officially belongs to the ejido La Canoa but which since the thirties has been in the hands of several private landholders.In this book it its argued that the labeling of the above mentioned practices in a functionalist way as "disorganized" or "corrupt" forms part of modernist discourses of development and does not bring us any nearer to an understanding of these dynamics, nor to an insight into the precise role played by the official rules and formal institutions. It is argued that these practices are the result of active organizing by ejidatarios, as well as officials and other social actors. Furthermore, it is shown that in the myriad of activities which are labeled as "illegal", "disorganized", and "corrupt" we can also distinguish certain organizing patterns. For example, in chapter five it was shown that in the many "illegal" arrangements with ejido plots we can distinguish a certain pattern in the way these were organized and that in these arrangements other ejidatarios, officials of the MAR, the ejido commissioner, and the ejido assembly play specific roles.In chapter six a different form of patterning of organizing practices has been discussed. There it was shown, among other things, that the executive committee of the ejido never renders accounts of their activities at public ejido meetings, but that alternative forms of accountability exist and other effective mechanisms by which the ejidatarios control their executive committee. Namely, through informal channels, gossips, and regional political networks. In this context the ejido meetings have turned into arenas for bickering and confrontation and have developed symbolic roles in distinguishing between "insiders" and "outsiders". At the same time the official ejido structure becomes important in the case of serious conflicts. Then the "formal game is played" together with the use of informal political pressures.It is argued that this structuring of organizing practices in unexpected and often "invisible" ways always occurs around the management of resources, and in relation to institutional settings. This book sets out the way that all forms of organizing take place in wider force fields. A force field is defined as a field of power and struggle between different social actors around certain resources or problems and around which certain forms of dominance, contention, and resistance may develop, as well as certain regularities and forms of ordering. The assumption is that all forms of organizing, even the most "private" or "illegal" ones, develop within fields of power. In this view, the patterning of organizing processes which we may find are not the result of a common understanding or normative agreement, but of the forces at play within the field.It has been shown that the development of forms of ordering in organizing practices is closely related to forms of exclusion of certain social categories. Different groups can be distinguished with differing roles, different access to resources, and differing rights. The concept of force field also helps us to analyze the precise role of the law and official procedures.The assumptions is that multiple force fields exist which develop their own dynamic and have different specific implications for the people involved. This means that in relation to certain resources and problems ejidatarios may develop a high degree of autonomy, while around others they have little "room for manoeuvre". The organizing practices around the arable plots in the ejido led to much autonomy for the ejidatarios, though the law, the bureaucratic procedures and the officials were always present as a "distant threat". On the other hand, the bureaucracy has been much less present in relation to organizing in the common lands. Around the commons ejidatarios and landless villagers have great autonomy to act without interference from the state bureaucracy. While, around the arable land and the commons the ejidatarios have developed a high degree of autonomy, around the "lost land" they obviously operate in a force field in which they are relatively powerless. There we find ejidatarios in a hopeless fight against private landowners. Hence, we cannot talk in a generalized way about the structural position of ejidatarios vis-á-vis regional elites, or about the nature of their relation with the Mexican state. This differs according to the resources and problems at stake.In this approach, social theorizing, reflexive talk, and story-telling by social actors are considered to be a central part of the organizing process. These dialogues reflect a continuous active engagement of social actors with the world around them. Furthermore, the creation and re-creation of stories are considered to be a way of ordering the world around us and of arriving at the best strategies to be followed in the organizing process. Organizing practices are always related to the production of meaning and in this book it has been shown how the organizing practices around different resources in specific force fields are accompanied by reflective talk, ideological notions, irony, and the production of multiple meanings through imagination and the work of interpretation. These dialogues reflect forms of struggle, contention, and resistance in relation to existing organizing practices and relations of power.As has been shown in this book, ejidatarios have a complicated and contradictory relation with the Mexican state. The state was their ally in the fight against the hacendados during the period of agrarian reform and it has also been the provider of all kinds of services (schools, water, electricity). However, in other instances the state is viewed as a corrupt and violent enemy which is greatly feared and distrusted by the people. Hence, we have an image of the Mexican state as the protector and oppressor of the ejidatarios at the same time. Images of the state conjoin notions of evil with goodness. For that reason, the ejidatarios may be supportive and enthusiastic towards the Mexican President at one moment, and cynical and distrustful about his speeches at another moment. Or they can laugh about themselves being deceived by the democratic and liberalizing discourse of a president who later on proved to be one of the worst swindlers the country ever saw. The ejidatarios can be proud of being part of the Mexican nation-state project but at the same time they can criticize powerholders for their corruption and for their squeezing of the peasants.I have argued that the continuous theorizing about power and politics in society not only concerns a rationalization of actions but also an investment in the "idea of the state", in other words, an investment in the belief of the existence of a center of control. This does not mean that practices of authority and control do not exist but that people tend to look for a coherence and logic which does not exist. These imaginations which are constitutive of the "culture of the state", are based upon experiences and are mediated by a series of governmental techniques and by the media, education, and movies. The "culture of the state" is central to the operation of the bureaucracy as a "hope-generating machine". The "hope-generating machine" gives the message that everything is possible, that cases are never closed, and that things will be different from now on. This permeates all aspects of life and triggers powerful responses. However, rather than producing a certain rationality and coherence, the bureaucratic machine generates enjoyments, pleasures, fears and expectations. Although people are never naive, during certain periods they can become inspired and enthusiastic about new programs and new openings that are offered to them. Yet, doubts never totally disappear.It is also argued that in this context of a decentered "hope-generating machine" without a clear center and coherence, brokers do often not play a role in effectively connecting ejidatarios to "the state", but play a role in the imagination of state power. By suggesting that they are the "right connection" to higher levels and to the "center of control" brokers contribute to the "idea of the state". In the same way, by searching for the "right connection" which can help them to resolve their problems, ejidatarios invest in the "idea of the state". Ejidatarios and bureaucrats are implicated in the cultural representation of the state through processes of rationalization, speculation, the construction of fantasies, etc. but also through processes of fetishization, that is the attribution to certain objects such as maps and documents with special powers. In this complex of desire and fantasy, inscription is very important. People develop a fetishism around certain official documents, even when they cannot "read" these documents according to official standards.The same can be said of bureaucrats who tend to reify the law, in spite of "knowing" that official procedures do not play a central role in the outcome of highly politicized land conflicts. In these processes, the "idea of the state" is objectivized and fixed in maps, documents, and other legal texts. Hence, see a "re-enchantment of governmental techniques" as they acquire symbolic meanings beyond their administrative functions.

This study is based on research carried out during several periods from mid 1991 to mid 1995 in the ejido La Canoa in Jalisco, western Mexico, and in several government agencies. The study focuses in particular on the period between the 1930s and 1992 when the Mexican agrarian law was fundamentally changed. The last chapters of the book discuss the change of the agrarian law in 1992.The study shows how over the years organizing practices developed with respect to the access to ejido plots and the management of the ejido which differed from the prescriptions of the law. For example, the division of the arable plots, the selling of these plots, renting them out, or leaving them unused were all illegal practices which became common in ejidos throughout Mexico. It also became a common phenomenon that instead of the ejido assembly, in which all ejidatarios are represented, the head of the ejido, the commissioner, took decisions on his own. Likewise, the rules were also seldom applied in the resolution of land conflicts by the Ministry of Agrarian Reform (MAR). Land conflicts between ejidatarios and private land owners abound and many have never been resolved. In this study the conflict of the "lost land" is discussed. This concerns a conflict over land that officially belongs to the ejido La Canoa but which since the thirties has been in the hands of several private landholders.In this book it its argued that the labeling of the above mentioned practices in a functionalist way as "disorganized" or "corrupt" forms part of modernist discourses of development and does not bring us any nearer to an understanding of these dynamics, nor to an insight into the precise role played by the official rules and formal institutions. It is argued that these practices are the result of active organizing by ejidatarios, as well as officials and other social actors. Furthermore, it is shown that in the myriad of activities which are labeled as "illegal", "disorganized", and "corrupt" we can also distinguish certain organizing patterns. For example, in chapter five it was shown that in the many "illegal" arrangements with ejido plots we can distinguish a certain pattern in the way these were organized and that in these arrangements other ejidatarios, officials of the MAR, the ejido commissioner, and the ejido assembly play specific roles.In chapter six a different form of patterning of organizing practices has been discussed. There it was shown, among other things, that the executive committee of the ejido never renders accounts of their activities at public ejido meetings, but that alternative forms of accountability exist and other effective mechanisms by which the ejidatarios control their executive committee. Namely, through informal channels, gossips, and regional political networks. In this context the ejido meetings have turned into arenas for bickering and confrontation and have developed symbolic roles in distinguishing between "insiders" and "outsiders". At the same time the official ejido structure becomes important in the case of serious conflicts. Then the "formal game is played" together with the use of informal political pressures.It is argued that this structuring of organizing practices in unexpected and often "invisible" ways always occurs around the management of resources, and in relation to institutional settings. This book sets out the way that all forms of organizing take place in wider force fields. A force field is defined as a field of power and struggle between different social actors around certain resources or problems and around which certain forms of dominance, contention, and resistance may develop, as well as certain regularities and forms of ordering. The assumption is that all forms of organizing, even the most "private" or "illegal" ones, develop within fields of power. In this view, the patterning of organizing processes which we may find are not the result of a common understanding or normative agreement, but of the forces at play within the field.It has been shown that the development of forms of ordering in organizing practices is closely related to forms of exclusion of certain social categories. Different groups can be distinguished with differing roles, different access to resources, and differing rights. The concept of force field also helps us to analyze the precise role of the law and official procedures.The assumptions is that multiple force fields exist which develop their own dynamic and have different specific implications for the people involved. This means that in relation to certain resources and problems ejidatarios may develop a high degree of autonomy, while around others they have little "room for manoeuvre". The organizing practices around the arable plots in the ejido led to much autonomy for the ejidatarios, though the law, the bureaucratic procedures and the officials were always present as a "distant threat". On the other hand, the bureaucracy has been much less present in relation to organizing in the common lands. Around the commons ejidatarios and landless villagers have great autonomy to act without interference from the state bureaucracy. While, around the arable land and the commons the ejidatarios have developed a high degree of autonomy, around the "lost land" they obviously operate in a force field in which they are relatively powerless. There we find ejidatarios in a hopeless fight against private landowners. Hence, we cannot talk in a generalized way about the structural position of ejidatarios vis-á-vis regional elites, or about the nature of their relation with the Mexican state. This differs according to the resources and problems at stake.In this approach, social theorizing, reflexive talk, and story-telling by social actors are considered to be a central part of the organizing process. These dialogues reflect a continuous active engagement of social actors with the world around them. Furthermore, the creation and re-creation of stories are considered to be a way of ordering the world around us and of arriving at the best strategies to be followed in the organizing process. Organizing practices are always related to the production of meaning and in this book it has been shown how the organizing practices around different resources in specific force fields are accompanied by reflective talk, ideological notions, irony, and the production of multiple meanings through imagination and the work of interpretation. These dialogues reflect forms of struggle, contention, and resistance in relation to existing organizing practices and relations of power.As has been shown in this book, ejidatarios have a complicated and contradictory relation with the Mexican state. The state was their ally in the fight against the hacendados during the period of agrarian reform and it has also been the provider of all kinds of services (schools, water, electricity). However, in other instances the state is viewed as a corrupt and violent enemy which is greatly feared and distrusted by the people. Hence, we have an image of the Mexican state as the protector and oppressor of the ejidatarios at the same time. Images of the state conjoin notions of evil with goodness. For that reason, the ejidatarios may be supportive and enthusiastic towards the Mexican President at one moment, and cynical and distrustful about his speeches at another moment. Or they can laugh about themselves being deceived by the democratic and liberalizing discourse of a president who later on proved to be one of the worst swindlers the country ever saw. The ejidatarios can be proud of being part of the Mexican nation-state project but at the same time they can criticize powerholders for their corruption and for their squeezing of the peasants.I have argued that the continuous theorizing about power and politics in society not only concerns a rationalization of actions but also an investment in the "idea of the state", in other words, an investment in the belief of the existence of a center of control. This does not mean that practices of authority and control do not exist but that people tend to look for a coherence and logic which does not exist. These imaginations which are constitutive of the "culture of the state", are based upon experiences and are mediated by a series of governmental techniques and by the media, education, and movies. The "culture of the state" is central to the operation of the bureaucracy as a "hope-generating machine". The "hope-generating machine" gives the message that everything is possible, that cases are never closed, and that things will be different from now on. This permeates all aspects of life and triggers powerful responses. However, rather than producing a certain rationality and coherence, the bureaucratic machine generates enjoyments, pleasures, fears and expectations. Although people are never naive, during certain periods they can become inspired and enthusiastic about new programs and new openings that are offered to them. Yet, doubts never totally disappear.It is also argued that in this context of a decentered "hope-generating machine" without a clear center and coherence, brokers do often not play a role in effectively connecting ejidatarios to "the state", but play a role in the imagination of state power. By suggesting that they are the "right connection" to higher levels and to the "center of control" brokers contribute to the "idea of the state". In the same way, by searching for the "right connection" which can help them to resolve their problems, ejidatarios invest in the "idea of the state". Ejidatarios and bureaucrats are implicated in the cultural representation of the state through processes of rationalization, speculation, the construction of fantasies, etc. but also through processes of fetishization, that is the attribution to certain objects such as maps and documents with special powers. In this complex of desire and fantasy, inscription is very important. People develop a fetishism around certain official documents, even when they cannot "read" these documents according to official standards.The same can be said of bureaucrats who tend to reify the law, in spite of "knowing" that official procedures do not play a central role in the outcome of highly politicized land conflicts. In these processes, the "idea of the state" is objectivized and fixed in maps, documents, and other legal texts. Hence, see a "re-enchantment of governmental techniques" as they acquire symbolic meanings beyond their administrative functions.