A Degrowth Approach to Deforestation: The Zapatista Alternative

Forests are fundamental environmental resources, crucial for biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration and landscape resilience, and for the survival of all species on the planet. Thus, the phenomenon of deforestation has interested a number of researches, which have identified development dynamics, namely extractivist commodity crop agriculture and indigenous displacement, as its major drivers. Sustainable development (SD) is the most widely accepted approach to curb this phenomenon. However, SD projects have produced mixed results, while opportunities offered by more radical approaches, such as post-development, have been overlooked in the literature. This research takes the example of degrowth as a post-development critique and analyses the case study of the Zapatista Autonomous Communities (ZACs) in the Mexican state of Chiapas. It investigates to what extent Zapatista agricultural strategies mitigate deforestation caused by extractive commodity crop agriculture and...Show moreForests are fundamental environmental resources, crucial for biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration and landscape resilience, and for the survival of all species on the planet. Thus, the phenomenon of deforestation has interested a number of researches, which have identified development dynamics, namely extractivist commodity crop agriculture and indigenous displacement, as its major drivers. Sustainable development (SD) is the most widely accepted approach to curb this phenomenon. However, SD projects have produced mixed results, while opportunities offered by more radical approaches, such as post-development, have been overlooked in the literature. This research takes the example of degrowth as a post-development critique and analyses the case study of the Zapatista Autonomous Communities (ZACs) in the Mexican state of Chiapas. It investigates to what extent Zapatista agricultural strategies mitigate deforestation caused by extractive commodity crop agriculture and indigenous displacement. On the basis of a triangulation of literature review, qualitative content analysis and unstructured interviews, this thesis argues that Zapatista agricultural practices represent a crucial opportunity to mitigate deforestation in Chiapas. Indeed, Zapatista price settlement mechanisms and farming practices offer an effective alternative to extractive commodity crop agriculture and, by fostering the resurgence of indigenous communities, oppose the cultural consequences of indigenous displacement.Show less

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A Degrowth Approach to Deforestation: The Zapatista Alternative