Vía campesina’ struggle for the right to food sovereignty: From above or from below?

Abstract

The transnational agrarian movement La Via Campesina has successfully mobilized a human rights discourse in its struggle against capitalism and neoliberalism. As La Vía Campesina celebrates its 20th anniversary, this chapter proposes a critical overview of the right of peoples to food sovereignty. Looking at food sovereignty both as La Vía Campesina’s most prominent collective action frame and as a new collective human right, this chapter explores some of the challenges social movements are confronted with when using human rights. It discusses efforts by La Vía Campesina to achieve the international recognition of food sovereignty as a new human right and explores past and current challenges involved in the institutionalization of food sovereignty.