Neoliberalism in rural South America: political trends in peasant-led unionization (2000–2020)

Abstract

This article asks to what extent the political mobilization promoted by peasant organizations in Argentina, Chile and Brazil can be inscribed in new forms of “peasant unionization.” Based on a qualitative and ethnographic approach to the organizational trajectory of the Coordinadora Latinoamericana de Organizaciones del Campo-Vía Campesina (CLOC-VC), this paper seeks to provide theoretical and empirical contributions to the issue of rural trade unions in South America and peasants’ organization experiences over the last twenty years. The article concludes that the peasant movements of the CLOC-VC have created new institutional opportunities for union articulation and organization to better channel class interests in South America.