Political Agroecology in Mexico: A Path toward Sustainability

Víctor M. Toledo and Narciso Barrera-Bassols
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Víctor M. Toledo: Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM), Morelia, Michoacán 58190, Mexico
Narciso Barrera-Bassols: Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales, Autonomous University of Querétaro, Santiago de Querétaro 76017, Mexico

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 2, 1-13

Abstract: The biocultural richness of Mexico is among the highest worldwide. A history of over 7000 years of agriculture, and a persistent tradition of peasant social resistance movements that climaxed during the agrarian revolution in the early 20th century, continued in the indigenous resistance in Chiapas leading to the Zapatista uprising in 1992, and continues to be expressed in present local and regional confrontations for the defense of territory. Scholars agree that agroecology conceptually includes ecological and agricultural scientific research activity, empirical practices applied for agriculture, and the nuclear goal of numerous rural social movements. What has not been sufficiently established is how these three spheres of agroecology interact with each other and what emergent synergies they generate. Taking as an example the production in Mexico of three key agricultural goods—maize, coffee, and honey—our paper briefly reviews the existing relations between knowledge generation, agroecological practices, and rural social processes. We conclude by reflecting on the role of agroecological research in the context of an agrarian sustainability committed to helping reduce social inequity, marginality, and exploitation, as much as reverting the severe deterioration of the natural environment: both common issues in contemporary Mexico.

Keywords: agroecology; agrarian sustainability; maize; coffee; honey-bee; Mexico (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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