Ecuador and Mexico: interwoven histories of controversy in policy on agriculture and peasants’ markets

Abstract

This article compares how peasant societies in Ecuador and Mexico have developed diverse resistance strategies and initiatives, relying on traditional institutions and mechanisms, to cope with food system restructuring processes and global transitions. Based on the postulates of Karl Polanyi and solidarity economy, ethnographic fieldwork and institutional analysis are combined, in order to (1) identify whether the traditional solidarity mechanisms remain when peasant societies are confronted with agricultural restructuring and large-scale trade systems, and (2) examine the relationships between maintenance of the traditional solidarity mechanisms and the broader institutional environment, especially when the State intervene in the organisation and control of short food supply chains. The findings suggest that the broader institutional environment significantly influences the collective action of peasants, and their capacities to integrate into state projects.