Co-Operatives and Agrarian Transitions in Coastal Ecuador: Implications for Neo-Liberalism
Author(s)
Phillips, Lynne
Abstract
Agricultural co-operatives in coastal Ecuador are examined within the context of agrarian transitions ‘to’ and ‘within’ capitalism. It is argued that while this framework is useful for identifying broad transformations taking place between co-operatives and the market, the impact that rural survival strategies may have on co-operative organization must be made more central to the understanding of specific agrarian transitions. Case studies, which reveal the multiple relations that shape the organizational forms that co-operatives take, support the view that the neo-liberal policies currently being promoted in Latin America fail to provide adequate solutions to the serious problems that agricultural co-operatives face today.
