The Monsanto Law: Genetically modified maize and new spaces of resistance

Carrie Seay-Fleming

LASC Travel Grant Project 2019

I traveled to Guatemala in July of 2019 to collect preliminary data and continue refining my dissertation prospectus. Originally, I was focused on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and seed privatization, which have been strongly resisted by indigenous and campesino activists. Talking with activists and various government actors central to this debate, I saw the ways that this smaller struggle fits into a larger debate about agricultural development in Guatemala. On the one hand are government agencies, NGOs and agronomists who favor an agricultural modernization approach to agricultural development in the country. On the other hand, food sovereignty activists fight for increased control over food production and consumption. Both of these competing visions of agricultural development show up in the GMO debates, as well as in broader discussions of rural development. To familiarize myself with both of these competing perspectives, I interviewed employees from USAID, and NGOs with USAID funding as well as campesino and food sovereignty activists. I also spent time doing ethnographic observation with food sovereignty activists, attending meetings and activities. The data will be used to refine my dissertation prospectus and strengthen grant proposals to fund my fieldwork. I believe that a lot of the interview and ethnographic data was very poignant and will likely also show up in my eventual dissertation.