Interpreting “disorder”. Agricultural change, farm workers and the Sembrando Vida (Planting Life) Program

Abstract

The study of contemporary ruralities tends to be accompanied by the image of the peasantry on the verge of disappearing. To counteract this trend, I seek to analyze the current panorama as the transition between a ‘disordered’ past and a ‘disordered’ present, challenging the inclination to regard peasants as the opposite of capital and the state. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in towns in southeastern Chiapas, I also show what the Sembrando Vida program contributes to rural experiences. Using a procedural perspective, I reflect on the classic questions in rural studies: Who are peasants? Are we witnessing the end of the peasantry in the agrarian capitalism of the 21st century?