This profile is about the international Movement and what they stand for and represent. The important social issues regarding gender, race, and social class as well as the basic Campesino lifestyle issues such as land and water rights. I think it’s important to show that the organization aims to highlight and make these issues heard but there are also other significant things that I hope the audience can get out of this.
I think an important and fascinating thing to take away from the profile is the collective agency and unity shown by the diverse and expansive peasants of the world. The fact that groups from 81 different countries and backgrounds are able to unify and attack this one issue that oppresses them is fascinating and inspiring. To me, this kind of broke my limit of what I thought could be possible and realistic. It shows that challenging these oppressive and harmful structures/institutions are realistic even for the countryside peasant who has never owned an iPhone or had access to running water.
Another thing I hope that the audience can get out of the profile is the comprehension that not everyone needs or wants to live this modernized twenty-first century lifestyle. The harmful idea that People of the land are these poor lower-class individuals and need modernity to save and elevate their lifestyles when this far from reality. I want the audience to see that organizations like La Via Campesina aim to celebrate and promote the peasant lifestyle. The only thing that they desire is to live La Via Campesina without exploitation or struggle caused by the hegemonic nature of Neoliberalism.
Before listening to this podcast, I will admit that my understanding of the term “peasant” was limited, although if I was asked I would probably say someone of low social and wealth status. I appreciated how you brought out the positives about peasant lifestyles and the goals of La Via Campesina to resist the push of industrialization and modernity and tackle various social issues in a unified manner. I thought the various audio clips that you added to your podcast were a nice touch, it helps keep the listener engaged.
I found it really interesting how you challenged my own notion of peasant within your podcast; I think it’s a great example of showing how you can take back a word with a negative connotation and create it towards something new. Peasant is living with the land and La Via Campesina wants to fight back against neoliberalism’s tactics and focuses on bringing social and environmental justice within their messages. Their message of modernity hurts those who do not rely on modern technology as much and want to be on with the world.
I found it incredibly effective when you included clips from people who have experienced the imbalance of neoliberalism firsthand. It really left me impacted hearing their experiences and how upsetting it is that their land is being taken away so easily. I also found your use of music impactful since you used a song that comes from Spanish-speaking communities and talks about the peasant lifestyle. Great stuff Marco! I really enjoyed it.
This was a very interesting podcast. Listening to you talk about these peasants in a different light was very interesting and informative because I had no clue that this was an actual movement in the present day. Thinking about how it is much more than the “people of the land,” it is very interesting to think about how diverse this movement really is. When thinking about this podcast as a whole, I considered how, in the present day, so many people want to “return to the land” but this movement is obviously so much more. It’s about maintaining the land and keeping the qualities of peasant life that should not be taken over by industrialization or neoliberalism. I really like that you have introduced this new perspective of the environmental movement– especially towards neoliberalism, agro-ecology, and all of the issues you brought up. I also really liked the example for palm oil– it was fascinating to think of how this industry has grown.
Well done putting this podcast together! As someone who has encountered this movement before and read about it in the past, I think you did an excellent job detailing its contributions to global food movements. Specifically, emphasizing the use of the word peasant, not in its colloquial sense, but rather as a tradition of living off the land. Additionally, the global scale of the movement’s mission is super important and I think you did well to describe La Via Campesina as an international struggle. Again great work!