Navigating spaces for political action: Victories and compromises for Mexico's local organic movement

Abstract

In recent years, a plethora of spaces have been created that allow citizens and civil society organizations to participate in governance processes at local, regional, national and international levels. This chapter tells the story of one civil society organization's efforts to navigate such newly opened space in an effort to facilitate transformations aligned with its alternative agri-food system agenda. Specifically, it is the story of the Mexican Network of Local Organic Markets and its work to influence the national policy governing Mexico's organic sector. The case study highlights how the development of a network structure helped build the kind of social capital necessary for the country's relatively small-scale local organic movement to engage in effective collective action, and how that action was translated into political support for its work. However, this story is also one of compromises, limitations and frustrations that raises questions regarding the implications of acting within spaces that may be new but still subject to old power dynamics.