Rice Against Communism: The Politicisation of Agriculture from ‘Above’ and ‘Below’

During the last decades, the politicisation of agriculture has been observed when peasant movements claimed rights to land and food sovereignty. But where did this politicisation come from? I distinguish two types of politicising agriculture: ‘from above’ and ‘from below’. While the latter has received much attention, particularly drawing on La Via Campesina, the former has so far received less spotlight. This is problematic because it relegates ‘politicisation’ to social movements and by that normalises the politicisation of agriculture, which has made their resistance necessary in the first place. I historically situate the transnational smallholder movements that have been politicising issues around food production since the 1980s, particularly in South-east Asia. They have been doing so because, in the decades preceding their activism, Western governments and international organisations politicised the issue to fight communism with the expansion of industrialised agriculture, which they exported in the ‘Green Revolution’. I trace this politicisation ‘from above’ (drawing on the US intervention in Indonesia) and the delayed political responses of peasant movements in Indonesia and beyond.