Who Is in, Who Is out? On Spatial and Social Borders in the Struggle over Rural Futures

This paper examines the struggle for rural futures in Juana Fleitas, a small settlement in Eastern Paraguay. Its inhabitants use to present themselves as a rebellious, united community, and are also known as such throughout the region. While Paraguay is increasingly covered by large-scale soy plantations and peasants throughout the country are losing lands and livelihoods, residents of Juana Fleitas have successfully reclaimed control over their territory. Through collective struggle—ranging from physical confrontations to parliamentary debates—they have banned large-scale monocropping from the village and its surroundings, first in practice and ultimately codified by law: A municipal ordinance, known as “zonificación” (zonification), creates a protective space for small-holders. Though not providing a way out of the structural crisis of small-scale agriculture, it shields peasants from immediate displacements which go hand in hand with the expansion of agribusiness. For people in Juana Fleitas and beyond, the zonificación represents the very basis for desirable rural futures.

The paper traces what made this unique space of hope possible. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Juana Fleitas, it reveals in how far the assertion of the zonificación and its continued defense is linked to the community formation of the relatively young settlement, that emerged from an occupation only 20 years ago.

Taking a closer look at the ‘rebellious, united community’, the paper asks who actually agrees on what. How do the proponents of the zonificación (re)create belonging and collective action by concealing or emphasizing political, religious, national or class-based boundaries? How do the (unintended) effects of boundary work and changing power relations reshape visions and future-oriented practices?

The paper will show how the spatial zonificación relates to a social one - and how the ongoing contestation of social demarcations shape the way in which collective futures are envisioned and struggled for.