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Villanova University

Publication Date

Spring 2004

Program Name

Southern Cone: Regional Integration, Development and Social Change

Abstract

This study is an analysis of the current situation of the small producers of the Movimiento Campesino del Santiago del Estero (MOCASE) to determine the extent they are obtaining a sustainable and autonomous existence by means of rural development projects, with a specific focus on MOCASE from the region of Bandera Bajada, department Figueroa, and their interaction with the Programa Social Agropecuario (PSA). The history of repression and social exclusion of the small producers, both on a provincial and national scale, through the implementation of neoliberal macroeconomic policies, massive land sales to large enterprises, and corrupt government policies have severely penalized these small farmers to a systematic poverty and struggle for survival. Through the popular-based organization, MOCASE, and the aid of certain NGOs and PSA, the small producers in Santiago del Estero are working to promote their rights and improve their living conditions through development projects aimed at autoconsumption and commercialization. However, the relation between these small producers and PSA has surpassed a supportive link and become a strong dependence that has limited their autonomous development. To arrive at this conclusion, I extensively researched rural thematic relating to Argentina, Santiago del Estero and MOCASE with periodicals, scholarly journals, and books. I also traveled to Santiago del Estero and Bandera Bajada where I interviewed different directors and farmers of the movement, observed reunions of the departmental popular based organizations, observed meetings between the provincial government and MOCASE, lived in solidarity with a family involved in the movement, and interviewed PSA directors as well as academic agrarian specialists.

Disciplines

Politics and Social Change

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