What does agroecology mean for peasant and indigenous producers working with development NGOs and social movements in Mexico?

建立一个能够养活不断增长的全球人口、抵御气候变化和创造可持续农村生计的粮食系统的必要性日益明显。生态农业经常被认为是应对这一挑战的一种办法。越来越多的有影响力的组织，从社会运动和农民组织，到非政府组织和政府间发展机构，包括联合国粮食及农业组织，都在倡导这一点。然而，对农业生态学的解释各不相同。生态学最初是一门将生态学应用于农业的科学学科，现在可以指环境可持续的农业实践，有利于小规模农民的农村发展模式，或改变全球工业食品系统的方法。这些分歧引发了学术辩论，并导致对农业生态学的含义和变革潜力的两极分化。一些学者称赞它具有产生可持续粮食系统和改善农村社区生活的潜力（Altieri等人，2012; Rosset & Martinez-Torres，2018），而其他人则高度怀疑并批评其对“农民方式”的理想化（伯恩斯坦，2013）。正如人类学家所强调的，重要的是要了解社会、文化和政治现实如何影响发展模式的实施（Mosse，2013年; Li，2007年）。然而，关于农业生态学的讨论往往是理论性的，很少有人知道这一概念是如何参与，谈判和应用的不同actors.In响应，本研究将从事在墨西哥特拉斯卡拉，农村社区的民族志研究，采用定性方法，即参与观察和半结构化访谈。我将通过El Movimiento Agroecológico Mexicano（MAM）和农民组织Grupo Vicente格雷罗（GVG）招募参与者，MAM是一个由民间部门、私人和学术机构组成的联盟，GVG长期在墨西哥特拉斯卡拉传播农业生态学。我将参加和观察这些组织的活动（例如，农业劳动，研讨会，社区访问和政治会议），以加强我与参与者的关系，探索如何制定和传播农业生态方法，并比较和对比不同行为者提出的机会和限制。半结构化访谈将允许三角测量和深入探索这些数据。这些方法将阐明农业生态学的细微差别和复杂性，并突出不同参与者谈判和竞争的方式。墨西哥的特拉斯卡拉地区长期以来在制定有影响力的农村发展政策和做法方面发挥了重要作用，并拥有丰富的采用农业生态学的组织网络。因此，它提供了一个重要的机会，以了解生态农业作为农村发展的一种工具，在不同行为者的解释和应用中是如何发挥作用的。随着生态农业成为全世界发展政策的核心组成部分，深入了解生态农业在不同情况下发挥作用的方式至关重要。这项研究将揭示可能影响生态农业实施的紧张局势和复杂情况，从而使农村发展非政府组织、国家决策者和政府间组织能够根据实地的实际情况就这一主题开展有意义的工作。这项研究将推动关于农业生态学的两极化和主要是理论性的辩论，并将为粮食系统和农村发展的学术研究做出重要贡献，探索在气候变化和全球粮食危机的背景下整合生态方法的可能性和挑战。

The need to create a food system capable of feeding a growing global population, withstanding climate change and creating sustainable rural livelihoods, is becoming increasingly apparent. Agroecology is often cited as a solution to this challenge. It is advocated by growing numbers of influential organisations, from social movements and peasant organisations, to NGOs and intergovernmental development agencies, including the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation. Interpretations of agroecology vary however. Initially established as a scientific discipline applying ecology to agriculture, the term can now refer to an environmentally sustainable agricultural practice, a rural development model benefiting small-scale farmers, or a method for transforming the global, industrial food system.Such divergences have stimulated academic debate and led to polarised opinions over agroecology's meaning and transformative potential. Some scholars celebrate its potential to generate a sustainable food system and improve the lives of rural communities (Altieri et al., 2012; Rosset & Martinez-Torres, 2018) whilst others are highly sceptical and criticise its idealization of the 'peasant way' (Bernstein, 2013). As anthropologists have stressed, it is important to understand how social, cultural and political realities affect the implementation of development models (Mosse, 2013; Li, 2007). However, discussions on agroecology are often theoretical, with little known about how the concept is engaged with, negotiated and applied by different actors on the ground.In response, this research will engage in ethnographic study of rural communities in Tlaxcala, Mexico, using qualitative methods, namely participant-observation and semi-structured interviews. I will recruit participants through El Movimiento Agroecológico Mexicano (MAM), a coalition of civil sector, private and academic bodies, and the peasant organisation Grupo Vicente Guerrero (GVG), who have long disseminated agroecology in Tlaxcala, Mexico. I will participate in and observe these organisations' activities (for example, agricultural labour, workshops, community visits and political meetings) in order to enhance my relationship with participants, to explore how agroecological approaches are formulated and disseminated, and to compare and contrast the opportunities and constraints presented by different actors. Semi-structured interviews will allow triangulation and in-depth exploration of this data. These methods will elucidate the nuances and complexities of agroecology and highlight the ways in which it is negotiated and contested by different actors.The Tlaxcala region of Mexico has long played an important role in generating influential rural development policies and practices and has a rich network of organisations adopting agroecology. It therefore offers an important opportunity to understand the ways in which agroecology functions as a tool for rural development when interpreted and applied by different actors. As agroecology becomes a core component of development policy worldwide, insight into the ways in which agroecology functions in different contexts is essential. This research will reveal the tensions and complications that might affect the implementation of agroecology, and will thus allow rural development NGOs, national policy makers and intergovernmental organisations to generate meaningful work on the topic based on realities on the ground. This research will advance polarized and largely theoretical debates on agroecology and will make an important contribution to scholarship on food systems and rural development, exploring the possibilities and challenges of integrating an ecological approach in the context of climate change and the global food crisis.