Chapter 11: The processing of palm oil in Chiapas, Mexico: Resistance and alternatives

Historically, the relationship between farmers and the processing sector has been asymmetric (Bonanno & Cavalcanti, 2012; Bonanno & Constance, 2006). In recent decades, this asymmetry of power has increased as corporations have expanded their control over all facets of agri-food (Bonanno & Constance, 2008; Burch & Lawrence, 2007; Busch & Bain, 2004). Resistance to agribusiness, however, has also been a traditional component of the evolution of the sector. Some observers have noted that social relations under neoliberal globalization are characterized by conditions that give overwhelming power to corporations and leave farmers – as well as other subordinate groups – with limited options of resistance (Constance, 2008; Heffernan, Hendrickson, & Gronski, 1999; Hendrickson, Wilkinson, Heffernan, & Gronski, 2008). Others have contended that not only resistance has emerged in a variety of settings (i.e., consumption, alternative production, civil society), but that the evolution of agri-food is better described by the expression “contested terrain” as contestation emerges in every facet of agri-food (Bonanno & Cavalcanti, 2011; Bonanno & Constance, 2008; Fletes, 2013).