“Men without land, and land without men” : A case study of rural movements in Paraguay 1954-2012

The “pink tide” in Latin America has shown us that social movements can sometimes be important components of democratisation processes. Weak social movements, on the other hand, are not able to gain representation within the state, and are not able to challenge the state or pressure governments into adopting policies that are in the interests of the movements. Some of the world’s most uneven land structures are found in Latin America, along with relatively large rural populations. It is therefore important to understand rural movements, as they often represent the poor and the marginalised in the countryside. The objective of this thesis has been to study the fragmentation in rural movements in Paraguay across three time periods: authoritarianism, transition, and consolidation. The aim has been to understand the fragmentation that causes relatively weak rural movements in Paraguay. Findings in this study reveal that the fragmentation in the rural movements is owed to uneven land holdings, reinforced by differentiating policies and treatment by the state, as well as differences in ideology and identity. The weak social movements of Paraguay can be interpreted as a problem of democratic deficit. Continued fragmentation can perhaps mean that the movements won’t play a role in the democratic consolidation process in the future. Paraguay today has not been entirely capable of shaking off the repression and criminalisation of social sectors that shaped former regimes, which signifies that representation and participation is limited: the movements voice their claims, but they are not heard