ABSTRACT

The commodification of natural resources, and especially the conversion of land into a product that can be bought, sold, leased or exchanged on markets, is one of the founding characteristics of capitalism. The pressures on the land seem more numerous every day, as the result of urbanization, industrialization or mining. Human rights framing was at the core of the Global Campaign for Agrarian Reform. La Via Campesina and Foodfirst Information and Action Network International jointly framed land claims in terms of rights in an effort to articulate agrarian issues and human rights law and methodologies. The assertion of new rights to resources was the major stumbling block in the negotiations. The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) is an interesting arena due to alternative governance model it offers. The CFS represents a new institutional space within which peasant movements can formulate their claims. The concept of territory plays an increasingly important role in the multifaceted struggles aimed at reclaiming control.