WHAT IS A PEASANT? THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN AMBIGUOUS POLITICAL SUBJECT IN SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO (ARGENTINA)

Abstract

This paper points at why reclaiming or disposing the category of peasant constitutes an excellent political bet. the ambiguity of the term, far from being considered a weakness, becomes powerful when the discourse about a specific difference is displaced by the (in) equality. Indeed, the central issue now is which social relationships are put into question or reinvented by the identification of peasant? Theoretical reflection adopts an empirical anchor on the Peasant Movement of Santiago del Estero (MOCASE). Despite of the conflicts and the internal divisions, it has adopted the peasant identity in positive sense during struggles for land and self-recognition as subjects of rights. The text is not intended to explain alleged hard cores of rural identity. It examines a dialogical process between identity and collective action. Also, it analyzes, from a long-term perspective, the place of the peasant in Argentina and its tension with the concept of family farming.