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Social Limitations of Maize Farmers' Adaptation to Neoliberal Policy Reform in Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Sytske F. Groenewald  and
Anke Niehof
Sytske F. Groenewald
Affiliation:
Oxfam Novib
Anke Niehof
Affiliation:
Wageningen University
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Abstract

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This article highlights the interfaces between micro-level livelihoods, social networks, and macroeconomic trends and policies. Specifically, it analyzes the role of farmer groups in livelihood adaptation of smallholder maize producers in southern Mexico. We show how neoliberal market changes have shaped the local social structure with constraining and enabling effects on households' ability to adapt, while in turn the outcomes of the neoliberal policy reforms are being (re)shaped by the responses of the farmers, thereby changing the structural context. We provide evidence for the heterogeneity of adaptation processes and show that farmers' participation influences the outcomes of neoliberal policy reforms.

Resumen

Resumen

Este artículo resalta las interacciones existentes entre las microcomunidades, las redes sociales, políticas y tendencias macroeconómicas y específicamente analiza el papel de los grupos de productores en la adaptación de los medios de vida de pequeños productores de maíz en el sur de México. El articulo demuestra cómo los cambios en las políticas de mercado neoliberales han dado forma a la estructura social local con efectos que restringen y a la vez facilitan la capacidad de adaptación de los hogares, mientras que —a su vez— los resultados de éstas reformas neoliberales están siendo (re)formados por las respuestas de los productores, cambiando así el contexto estructural. El argumento principal de este articulo trata de la naturaleza vinculada de estos procesos. En el desarrollo del argumento, el estudio arroja evidencia sobre la heterogeneidad de los procesos de adaptación y muestra que los resultados de las reformas de las políticas neoliberales son influenciados por la participación de los productores de maíz.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 50 , Issue 4 , 2015 , pp. 197 - 218
Copyright
Copyright © 2015 by the Latin American Studies Association

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