Rural social movement strategies confronting global food crises: ‘overcoming the crisis of capitalism or exiting altogether from capitalism in crisis?’

This essay examines the impacts of global food crises on rural social movements (RSMs) and recalls the context of the capitalism in crisis within which their resistance efforts are situated. It reviews key areas of RSM action: building alternative practice, deconstructing dominant narratives, boosting organizational strength, deepening political education, mobilizing to win battles that impact peoples' livelihoods, expanding convergence among movements, and reclaiming governance from corporate capture. It suggests that the transformative potential of this multitude of activities might be further sharpened by setting them within a long-term strategy of contrasting and progressively supplanting the capitalist mode of organizing the economy and society.