Family Farmers Land Reforms And Political Action

This book examines how European farmers responded to the economic and political challenges created by the First World War and the Great Depression. The difficulties of interwar Europe have been frequently explored, but rarely from the perspective of the agricultural sector, where two-fifths of the population earned their livelihood, mostly as small, family farmers. The traditional literature argues that the landed elites conspired to undermine many of Europe's young democracies after the Great War. This book shows instead that by the early 1920s most had either sold their land or seen it confiscated following the widespread land reforms of Eastern Europe, leaving the family farm as the dominant unit of production. The book advances several theories that place the family farmer at the heart of change and explores why some proved to be enthusiastic supporters of liberal democracy, while others preferred political ideologies as diverse as social democracy in Scandinavia or fascism in Germany and Italy. It explores the nuanced and evolving links between family farms and government interests, showing how this relationship varied in different countries and contexts across Western and Central Europe. The book discusses the impact of family farms on agricultural market trends, the influence of collective action on government policies, and the increasing politicization of farmers and rural populations more broadly. The book also sheds light on how agrarian problems and their solutions differed in industrial, agrarian, and transforming societies in interwar Europe. This book will be an illuminating read for scholars of economic history, comparative history and European history interested in agriculture and rural communities.

Marx, Lenin and Kautsky all regarded family farming as doomed to be split into capitalist farms and proletarian labour. Most modern economists regard family farming as an archaic form of production organization, destined to give way to agribusiness. Family Farms refutes these notions and analyses the manner in which family farmers have been able to operate with success in both developed and developing countries, using examples wherever these are illuminating. This book begins by reviewing theoretical arguments about agricultural structures, and defines family farming. This is followed by five vignettes about farming in the first half of the twentieth century. The authors analyse the conditions of access to land and water, labour, livestock, tools and seed and review marketing arrangements and how they have changed since 1900. A three-chapter review of evolving policies in the North Atlantic countries, in the communist states, and in the developing countries, leads to a discussion of the impact of neo-liberalism. New issues of the farmer as steward of the environment are explored, as well as modern ideas about de-agrarianization and a discussion of land reform, tracing the experience of Mexico and Brazil. In two final chapters the more positive approach of pluriactivity is discussed and followed by a review of organic farming as a principal modern innovation. New political organizations representing family farming are described and their demands are discussed with empathy, but in a sceptical manner. Family farming is an adaptable and resilient form of production organization, and these qualities have allowed it to survive. The future will be no easier than the past, yet family farming continues to flourish in most contexts. This book will be useful for researchers, students and lecturers interested in Development Studies, Rural Studies and Geography and Anthropology, as well as general readers who have an interest in farming.

Monograph comprising a comparison of the relationship between politics and land reform movements in eight developing countries - examines problems of land tenure changes, land settlement, agricultural cooperatives, peasant movements, social conflict, political participation, political leadership, etc. In Colombia, India, Iran, Islamic Republic, Mexico, Pakistan, the Philippines, China and Egypt. References and statistical tables.

This book represents the first harvest in the English language of the work of the Land Research Action Network (LRAN). LRAN is an international working group of researchers, analysts, nongovernment organizations, and representatives of social movements. -- pref.

Farming for Our Future examines the policies and legal reforms necessary to accelerate the adoption of practices that can make agriculture in the United States climate-neutral or better. These proven practices will also make our food system more resilient to the impacts of climate change. Agriculture's contribution to climate change is substantial--much more so than official figures suggest--and we will not be able to achieve our overall mitigation goals unless agricultural emissions sharply decline. Fortunately, farms and ranches can be a major part of the climate solution, while protecting biodiversity, strengthening rural communities, and improving the lives of the workers who cultivate our crops and rear our animals. The importance of agricultural climate solutions can not be underestimated; it is a critical element both in ensuring our food security and limiting climate change. This book provides essential solutions to address the greatest crises of our time.