ABSTRACT
In few dimensions of social reality has development had such devastating impacts as in the countryside, although it is perhaps the area most celebrated by the advocates of the enterprise. By the end of the 1980s it was possible to appreciate the full extent of the disaster. The case of Mexico is exemplary, because the Green Revolution was born in this country and what it did in the first 25 years was often presented as a model. It is useful, therefore, to explore that impact with less biased eyes and to explore the options. This essay was presented and discussed in 1999, for a forum on food sovereignty, and reformulated for publication in Mexico, Peru, and Italy. It goes deeper than the previous chapters in the theoretical and analytical exploration of the issues involved and describes concrete experiences that illustrate the alternatives.
