ABSTRACT
The organized political community takes its concrete form as political parties, social movements, and other groups of citizens mobilized for a political purpose, to the extent that they are independent of the state. Political, ecological, and technical reasons support arguments for a radical devolution of powers in development decisions to the lowest orders of territorial organization. Agropolitan development represents a special case of a territorial approach that involves the mobilization of political communities primarily for their own benefit. Planning does not eliminate politics; it tries rather to strengthen it. Here, as much as in matters even closer to livelihood and survival, the political moment of societal guidance—defining what is socially significant, establishing priorities, selecting the appropriate means, and marshalling the necessary resources—is of paramount importance. Whole new farming systems may have to be introduced to specific peasant populations to meet both their immediate needs and the longer-term needs of the political community for a sustainable and productive physical base.
