Whose Lands? Whose Resources?

Shalmali Guttal looks at shifts in agriculture policy in Cambodia and Laos as governments aim to transform the structures of their agriculture towards greater commercialization and markets. She argues this has far reaching impacts on rural social structures, and rural peoples’ access to land and security of tenure.

Climate Crises: Defending the land

Shalmali Guttal and Sofia Monsalve argue that climate change will mean a change in local knowledge and resilience, which are at the basis of good agricultural and ecosystem management. Before new ways are found, rural communities are likely to be rendered more vulnerable and dependent on external inputs and techniques, and lose precious local knowledge about food, medicinal plants, soil, water and coastal management, and forest and biodiversity protection. Therefore, public policies and resources must be redirected towards supporting land use and agricultural practices that cool the planet, nurture biodiversity and save energy. These policies will check global warming, achieve food sovereignty and reduce distress out-migration from rural to urban areas.

The Politics of Post-war/post-Conflict Reconstruction

Shalmali Guttal argues that post-conflict/war reconstruction is not simply about rebuilding lives and societies after periods of violent conflicts, crises and upheavals. Reconstruction is about establishing a market based capitalist economic system, twinned with a political regime that is willing to promote and defend free market-capitalism. She proposes that the hallmark of the ‘reconstruction model’ is neo-liberalism – an unregulated, market economy, liberal democracy, free flow of private capital, privatization, removal of domestic regulations and economic protections, and ‘good governance’, which in practice means that the fledgling state's responsibilities are re-oriented towards facilitating and protecting free market conditions for creating wealth, much of which is expropriated by private sector actors from outside the country and/or consolidated by national elites. Development (2005) 48, 73–81. doi:10.1057/palgrave.development.1100169

Editorial: Resetting Power in Global Food Governance: The UN Food Systems Summit

Effective Protection of Fundamental Rights in a pluralist worl