Struggle for Maize

Fitting Elizabeth Fitting

Description

When scientists discovered transgenes in local Mexican corn varieties in 2001, their findings intensified a debate about not only the import of genetically modified (GM) maize into Mexico but also the fate of the peasantry under neoliberal globalization. While the controversy initially focused on the extent to which gene flow from transgenic to local varieties threatens maize biodiversity, anti-GM activists emphasized the cultural significance of the crop in Mexico and demanded that campesinos and consumers have a voice in the creation of GM maize and rural policies. In The Struggle for Maize, Elizabeth Fitting explores the competing claims of the GM corn debate in relation to the livelihood struggles of small-scale maize producers, migrants, and maquiladora workers from the southern Tehuacan Valley. She argues that the region's biodiversity is affected by state policies that seek to transform campesinos into entrepreneurs and rural residents into transnational migrant laborers. While corn production and a campesino identity remain important to an older generation, younger residents have little knowledge of or interest in maize agriculture; they seek out wage labor in maquiladoras and the United States. Fitting's ethnography illustrates how agricultural producers and their families respond creatively to economic hardship and Mexico's "neoliberal corn regime," which promotes market liberalization, agricultural "efficiency," and the reduction of state services over domestic maize production and food sovereignty.

Sujets

• Sciences et techniques
• México
• Biodiversity
• Mexico

Informations

• Publié par: Duke University Press
• Date de parution: 31 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780822393863
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

The Struggle for Maize

Elizabeth Fitting

the struggle for maize

Campesinos, Workers, and Transgenic Corn in the Mexican Countryside

Duke University Press Durham and London 2011

∫2011 Duke University Press All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper$ Designed by C. H. Westmoreland Typeset in Quadraat by Keystone Typesetting, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in- Publication Data appear on the last printed page of this book.

For my parents

ix xi xv

1 33 35 75

117 120 155 197

230 239 249 265 271 293

list of tables acknowledgments list of abbreviations

Contents

introduction: The Struggle for Mexican Maize Part 1: Debates chapter1 Transgenic Maize and Its Experts chapterand the Hybrid Nation2 Corn

Part II: Livelihoods chapterand Conflict3 Community chapterthe Countryside4 Remaking chapter5 From Campesinos to Migrant and Maquila Workers?

conclusion appendix: Producer Interviews, 2001–2002 notes glossary bibliography index

Tables

1. Estimated Demand for Corn in Mexico 17 2. Labor and Land in San José Miahuatlán, 1970 136 3. Largest Producers of Elote by State, 1990 160 4. Largest Producers of Elote by State, 2000 161 5. Maize Production in Municipio of San José Miahuatlán, Puebla (in Hectares) 163 6. Elote Production in the Municipio of San José Miahuatlán 164 7. Costs of Elote Production, Spring–Summer 1995 171 8. Costs of Elote Production, Spring–Summer 2001 (Rainy Season) 172 9. Elote Profits, 2001 173 10. Costs of Maize (Grain) Production, 2001 174