N.2/2018 Dell'Uomo e dei Diritti
Peasants’ Rights and the Future of Food. Food as a Commodity of Climate Adaptation or as Collective Right for Climate Mitigation?
Kaya Maria Schwemmlein
Instituto de Ciências Sociais (ICS) Universidade de Lisboa
Published in December, 2018
Peasants’ Rights and the Future of Food. Food as a Commodity of Climate Adaptation or as Collective Right for Climate Mitigation?
Abstract
This essay explores the futures of food in two perspectives. In the first moment it will be shown that the emancipation to environmental concerns, risk and catastrophes can be seen from a hegemonic standpoint, ac- counted by improving technology, being efficient, clean or green. At a second moment, this paradigm is questioned and its limitations are described through a contra-hegemonic perspective, here given by La Via Campesina (LVC). Central to this standpoint is the (re)definition of concept of food production and local consumption, framing it as human right. The emancipation framework consists in re-orientating the control over the definition, implementation and assessment of policies that relate the small-scale farmer, through a human-right framing, underlining the needed legal protection. This is a comparative study focused on the discursive, normative and axiological differences between LVC Declaration, 2009; the Draft Declaration A/HRC/WG.15/5/2 developed by the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group (OEIGW) and the final United Nations (UN) Resolution A/C.3/73/L.30. The main scope is understanding the modus operandi of the UN rights system and its processes of institutionalization of rights. This essay is conducted through qualitative via documental analysis and literature review.
Keywords
Sustainable development, Right to food, Social movements, La Via Campesina, Food sovereignty.