Abstract
Over the last 20 years, Latin American ‘seed guardian networks’ have become increasingly influential in seed system transformations. This is a recent chapter in the decades old transition of seeds from deeply rooted commons to a global commodity, which constantly favours capitalist industrialism over all other ways of being. The emergence and consolidation of these networks is tied to the intensification of neoliberal reforms that undermine Indigenous, Afro-Latino, peasant, agroecological and organic agricultural practices. As part of this process, outliers connect in distributed networks to fight for the inclusion of their practices and visions, exerting pressure on hegemonic actors to transform national seed policies. This article sets out to argue that descriptions of contemporary seed systems as an overlap of antagonising ‘informal’ and ‘formal’ systems c ould be reviewed from a decolonial perspective. This can uncover profound differences on ways of being and knowing that raise important questions about j ustice. Reflecting on deliberate change of Latin American seed systems from a decolonial perspective may shed light on pathways to move towards a transmodern pluriverse. A road that requires systems change governance practitioners to engage more actively with peripheral alternatives, while critically interrogating our own role in the continuation of modernity/coloniality.
Keywords
transformation; seed systems; justice; transmodern
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/pluriversal.2021.0051
Citation
Garzon, J.(2021) Reflecting on Decoloniality and Justice in Latin American Seed System Transformations, in Leitão, R.M., Men, I., Noel, L-A., Lima, J., Meninato, T. (eds.), Pivot 2021: Dismantling/Reassembling, 22-23 July, Toronto, Canada. https://doi.org/10.21606/pluriversal.2021.0051
Creative Commons License
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Reflecting on Decoloniality and Justice in Latin American Seed System Transformations
Over the last 20 years, Latin American ‘seed guardian networks’ have become increasingly influential in seed system transformations. This is a recent chapter in the decades old transition of seeds from deeply rooted commons to a global commodity, which constantly favours capitalist industrialism over all other ways of being. The emergence and consolidation of these networks is tied to the intensification of neoliberal reforms that undermine Indigenous, Afro-Latino, peasant, agroecological and organic agricultural practices. As part of this process, outliers connect in distributed networks to fight for the inclusion of their practices and visions, exerting pressure on hegemonic actors to transform national seed policies. This article sets out to argue that descriptions of contemporary seed systems as an overlap of antagonising ‘informal’ and ‘formal’ systems c ould be reviewed from a decolonial perspective. This can uncover profound differences on ways of being and knowing that raise important questions about j ustice. Reflecting on deliberate change of Latin American seed systems from a decolonial perspective may shed light on pathways to move towards a transmodern pluriverse. A road that requires systems change governance practitioners to engage more actively with peripheral alternatives, while critically interrogating our own role in the continuation of modernity/coloniality.