“Oil Palm is the Answer”. Slogan of the 1st Latin American Congress of Oil Palm Growers. Guatemala, October 2013. From left to right: Guatemala’s Minister of Economy, Guatemala’s President, and President of the Guatemalan Oil Palm Growers Guild. Photo by the author.This is the second article in series 2 on ‘confronting authoritarian populism and the rural world’, linked to the Emancipatory Rural Politics Initiative (ERPI). An overview and links to the series 1 can be found here.
The current debate on populist political regimes has rightly focused on the ultra-conservative authoritarian wave sweeping the world. Does this mean authoritarian forms of government are only reserved for those living in countries under charismatic right-wing populist leaders? And is it only through such iron-fist rulers that authoritarian populism unfolds?
In short, no; there’s more to authoritarian populism today, and the role of large agribusiness corporations intimately linked to the state and elites is an important part of the story.
