Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Twenty-First-Century Land Grabs: Accumulation by Agricultural Dispossession

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, November 18, 2013

Twenty-First-Century Land Grabs: Accumulation by Agricultural Dispossession

Click here to access article by Fred Magdoff from Monthly Review.

The author provides profound insights on the transformation of feudalism into profit-driven industrial capitalism, insights that, no doubt, were mostly absent in your education. Following this transformation he begins his analysis of the conversion of privately owned farms into corporate agribusinesses (with special emphasis on China), and their influence on governments to remove national barriers inhibiting their accumulation of profits globally (neoliberalism).

What is going on today must be placed in the historical context of the continuous development of capitalism. .... Specific examples of the dispossession of people from the land will emphasize the various techniques used by capital (or nascent capital) that have resulted in a continuous stream of people moving to the cities. The examples discussed below are but a small sampling of the dispossessions that have occurred, and are occurring, around the world.