The Collective of Agrarian Scholar-Activists from the South is a network emerging from the 2019 Journal of Peasant Studies Writeshop on Critical Agrarian Studies and Scholar-Activism in Beijing, China. It expanded through its following three annual editions till 2022. Self-organized by former Writeshop participants, CASAS aims to promote scholarship and activism in critical agrarian studies and seek ways to navigate the structural barriers in academia by following principles of solidarity and mutual care. Some institutions we work closely with are the Journal of Peasant Studies (JPS), the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), the Transnational Institute (TNI), and the College of Humanities and Development Studies (COHD), among others.
Key collective initiatives in which CASAS has participated:
- Journal of Peasant Studies Writeshop in Critical Agrarian Studies and Scholar-Activism
- 2019 Beijing, China
- 2020 Online
- 2021 Online
- 2022 Cape Town, South Africa
- Agrarian Conversations Webinar Series (2021, online)
- Conference on Climate Change and Agrarian Justice (2022, online)
- JPS 50th Anniversary Issue (2023)
- Commentary piece coauthored by more than 30 CASAS members: Transforming Critical Agrarian Studies: Solidarity, Scholar-Activism and Emancipatory Agendas in and from the Global South
ONGOING INITIATIVES
- JPS 50 Anniversary International Conference: Critical Agrarian Studies in the 21st Century (Beijing, China, 10-12 October 2023)
- LDIP+10 Land Deals Politics Initiative. Land grabbing ten years on! (Colombia, 2024)
WORKING GROUPS. These are internal groups for collective discussion on the following topics:
- Agrarian change & supply chains
- Rural social movements & land grabs
- Agroecology & climate change
- Social reproduction
REFERENCE GROUP. This is our internal government and communication team, which integrates members of all cohorts and regions
2022 reference group: Diana Aguiar (chair, Brazil), Rahma Hassan (Kenya), Isabel Güiza (Colombia), Duygu Avci (Turkey), Cynthia Bejeno (Philippines), Boaventura Monjane (Mozambique), Arlindo Fortes (Cape Verde), Babur Hussain (India), Komal Chauhan (India), and Carol Hernandez (Mexico)
2023 reference group: Rahma Hassan (chair, Kenya), Dzifa Torvikey (Ghana), Mercedes Ejarque (Argentina), Daniel Kojo Leon Brenya Yeboah (Ghana), Gabriel Souza Bastos (Brazil), Andrew Bennie (South Africa), Pei Jiang (China), Zeynep Ceren Eren (Turkey), Muhammad Arfan (Pakistan), Fatema Sarker (Bangladesh), Isabel Güiza (Colombia), and Enrique Castañón Ballivián (Bolivia).
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Carol Hernández
Carol Hernandez holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Portland State University, U.S., and is a professor/researcher at the University Program of Bioethics, National Autonomous University of Mexico. Her areas of interest focus on agriculture and climate change, seed sovereignty, and indigenous social movements.