Annette Desmarais

Associate Professor and Acting International Studies Program Co-ordinator

AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION:

Food sovereignty, international development, rural social movements, gender and development.

ACADEMIC BACKGROUND

Ph.D. in Geography, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
Ph.D. Fields: Globalization of Agriculture; Development and Gender; Building Community and Local Knowledge; Poverty, Environment and Rural Development; and Social Movements and Peasant Protest.
MA Gender and Development, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton, England
BA, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC.

CURRENT RESEARCH

I am conducting research on food sovereignty in Mexico, Spain and Canada. I continue to do research with La Vía Campesina, an international peasant movement representing 148 organizations based in 69 countries throughout Asia, the Americas, Europe and Africa.

HONOURS AND ACADEMIC AWARDS

My book La Vía Campesina: Globalization and the Power of Peasants was nominated for the Chadwick F. Alger Award and the Lionel Gelber Prize.
Nomination by the University of Calgary for the Humanities, Social Sciences and Fine Arts category of the 2004 CAGS-UMI Distinguished Dissertation Award.

Nomination by the University of Calgary for the Social Sciences category of the 2004 Council of Graduate Schools/UMI Distinguished Dissertation Award.
Nomination by the Department of Geography at the University of Calgary for the 2004 Governor General's Gold Medal and the Chancellor's Graduate Medal.

In April 2004 I was awarded the Eric Wolf Prize by the Journal of Peasant Studies (JPS). The prize is awarded annually for one of the journal's best articles for analytical originality and comparative scope. The winning article entitled "The Vía Campesina: Consolidating an International Peasant and Farm Movement" was published by the JPS in 2002.

MEMBERSHIP AND ADVISOR

Member of the International Advisory Board of the Journal of Peasant Studies www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/03066150.asp

Member of the Editorial Board of the Human Geography: A New Radical Journal http://www.hugeog.com/

Board member and Research Associate with the Centro de Estudios para el Cambio en el Campo Mexicano (CECCAM), Mexico City.

Advisory Committee of the Centre Europe - Tiers Monde (CETIM), Geneva
Resource Rights Advisory Committee - Grassroots International Resource Rights for All

Advisor to the International Programme Committee of the National Farmers Union

Technical support to the Vía Campesina

PUBLICATIONS

Refereed books

Wittman, Hannah, Annette Aurélie Desmarais and Nettie Wiebe. 2011. (eds.) Food Sovereignty in Canada: Creating Just and Sustainable Food Systems. Fernwood Publishing: Black Point, N.S. (Equal co-editors)

Wittman, Hannah, Annette Aurélie Desmarais and Nettie Wiebe. 2010. (eds.) Food Sovereignty: Reconnecting Food, Nature and Community. Fernwood Publishing and FoodFirst Books: Black Point and Oakland, (Equal editors).

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2007. La Vía Campesina: Globalization and the Power of Peasants. Fernwood Publishing and Pluto Press: Halifax and London. This book has been published in French in 2008 (La Vía Campesina: La Mondialisation et le Pouvoir des Paysans), Spanish in 2008 (La Vía Campesina: Globalización y el Poder del Campesinado), Italian in 2009 (La globalizzazione e il potere dei contadini) and Korean in 2011.

Refereed chapters, articles and policy papers

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2011. "The International Women's Commission of La Vía Campesina," in N.Visvanathan, L. Duggan, L. Nisonoff and N. Wiegersma (eds.) (2011) The Women, Gender and Development Reader, 2nd. Edition, Zed Books: London.

Desmarais Annette Aurélie, Hannah Wittman and Nettie Wiebe. 2011. "Sovereignty now! With global food systems in economic and environmental crisis, people are taking back control," Alternatives, 37(2).

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2010. "La Vía Campesina et la Souveraineté Alimentaire," Chapter in Pierre Beaudet, Raphaël Canet et Marie-Josée Massicotte (eds.) L'altermondialisme: Forums sociaux, résistances et nouvelle culture politique, Ecosociété, Montréal, pp. 366-384.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2009. "Globalizing Peasants." In Carmen Diana Deere and Fred Royce (eds.) Rural Social Movements in Latin America: Organizing for Sustainable Livelihoods. University Press of Florida: Gainesville, pp. 33-54.

Navarro, Luis Hernández and Annette Aurélie Desmarais. 2009. "Crisis y Soberanía Alimentaria: Vía campesina y el Tiempo de una Idea," El Cotidiano, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Azcapotzlaco.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2008 "Peasant Resistance to Neoliberalism: La Vía Campesina and Food Sovereignty." Human Geography, Vol. 1, Issue 1.
Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2008. "The Power of Peasants: Reflections on the Meanings of the Vía Campesina." Journal of Rural Studies, Vol. 24, Issue 2, pp. 138-149.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2007. "La Vía Campesina: Globalization and the Power of Peasants." Invited by the Editorial Board of the Revista Núcleo de Estudos, Pesquisas e Projetos de Reforma Agrária (NERA) to submit an overview of my book for publication in Revista NERA, Vol. 10, No. 10.

Roppel, Carla, Annette Aurélie Desmarais and Diane Martz. 2006. "Farm Women and Canadian Agricultural Policy." Policy Research, Status of Women Canada: Ottawa. Available on-line at http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/swc-cfc/farm_women-e/pdf/200605_066...

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2005. " ‘You are mostly promised you will not be alone': Farm Women Leaders Speak about Resistance and Agrarian Activism." Canadian Woman Studies/ les cahiers de la femme, Vol. 24, No. 4.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2004. "The Vía Campesina: Women on the Frontiers of Food Sovereignty." Canadian Woman Studies/les cahiers de la femme, Vol. 23, No.1.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2003 " ‘The WTO . . . will meet somewhere, sometime. And we will be there!'" Research paper prepared for Voices: The Rise of Nongovernmental Voices in Multilateral Organizations. North-South Institute: Ottawa. Available on-line at http://www.nsi-ins.ca/english/pdf/Voices_WTO_Desmarais.pdf

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2002. "The Vía Campesina: Consolidating an International Peasant and Farm Movement." Journal of Peasant Studies, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 91-124.

Published translation of refereed articles

Roppel, Carla, Annette Aurélie Desmarais and Diane Martz. 2006. "La Politique agricole canadienne sous le regard des agricultrices. Recherche en matière politiques. Condition féminine Canada: Ottawa.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2003. "Vía Campesina: Consolidation d'un Movement Paysan International." Chapitre dans "Une Alternative Paysanne à la Mondialisation Néolibérale. Centre Europe - Tiers Monde (CETIM): Genève, pp. 71-134.

Non-Refereed Articles

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie and Luis Hernández Navarro. 2009. "Voices from Maputo: La Vía Campesina's Fifth Inernacional Conference. NACLA, May-June.

Luis Hernandez Navarro and Annette Aurélie Desmarais. 2009. "Feeding the world and cooling the planet: La Vía Campesina's Fifth International Conference," Briarpatch Magazine Vol. 38, No. 1.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie and Jim Handy. 2008. "Adequate food a simple justice," Western Producer. May 22.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie y Jim Handy. 2008. "La Vía Campesina y la Crisis Mundial de los Alimentos," La Jornada, May 8.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2008. "Food Sovereignty in the Yukon," Yukon News. February 27. Available at http://yukon-news.com/life/8684/

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2007. "Keeping People on the Land," Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture (LEISA) Magazine, Vol. 23, Number 1, March.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2007 "Mantener a la gente en el campo," LEISA Revista de Agroecología, Vol. 23 No. 1, Marzo.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2007. "Maintenir les population dans leurs terroirs," AGRODAPE, Vol. 23, No. 1.

Desmarais, Annette Auélie. 2006. "Another agriculture is possible," in Ecoliving: Working Together for a Sustainable World. Regina Ecoliving: Regina, Saskatchewan.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2006. "Farm women propose fundamental changes to Canadian Agricultural Policy," Union Farmer, Vol. 12, Issue 3, August, p. 18 and 22.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2006. "Women want farm policy change," Western Producer, August 17, pp. 7.

Roppel, Carla, Annette Aurélie Desmarais and Diane Martz. 2006. Farm Women and Canadian Agricultural Policy - an Educational Tool. National Farmers Union. August.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2005. "United in the Vía Campesina," Backgrounder. Fall, Vol. 11, No. 4, Foodfirst Institute for Food and Development Policy. Oakland, Ca.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2005. "Unidos en la Vía Campesina," Backgrounder, Fall, Vol. 11, No. 4, Foodfirst Institute for Food and Development Policy: Oakland, Ca.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2004. "Vía Campesina exige tierra, alimentación, dignidad y vida," el 24 de Julio, La Jornada, Mexico D.F.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2004. "Vía Campesina y FIPA: voces diferentes, posiciones y estrategías," el 10 de Julio, La Jornada, Mexico D.F.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2003. "Qué es Vía Campesina?" el 4 de octubre, La Jornada, Mexico D.F.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2003. "Vía Campesina y la OMC," el 11 de octubre, La Jornada, Mexico D.F.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2003. "Vía Campesina y la soberanía alimentaria," el 18 de octubre, La Jornada, Mexico D.F.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2003. "Vía Campesina y las ONGs," el 25 de octubre, La Jornada, Mexico D.F.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2003. "The Right not to Trade," Farmers' Independent Weekly, Vol. 3, No. 14, November 13.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2002. "In Support of Vía Campesina," Western Producer, June 27, 2002, p. 7.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie. 2001. "The Vía Campesina: Building Alternatives to the Globalization of Agriculture", Briarpatch, Volume 30, Number 2, March 2001.

Desmarais, Annette Aurélie (With Carla Roppel). 1996. "Toward a Food Security Policy for OXFAM-Canada," Policy Discussion paper for OXFAM-Canada , Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

INVITED LECTURES AND PRESENTATIONS

Over the years I have accepted a number of invitations (all expenses paid) to give presentations at the following universities and events: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Wisconsin at Madison, St. Mary's University, Roundtable on Gender Equality held in Edmonton, University of Florida - Gainesville, Cornell University, Institute of Social Studies at The Hague, two national conventions of the National Farmers Union, and an international conference on agriculture and trade held in Mexico City. I also presented as a Witness to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in their "Study on the Impact of the Farm Financial Crisis on Farming Families."

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE IN INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Since 1986 I have worked in international development focusing on gender analysis of rural and agricultural development. For ten years I worked for OXFAM-Canada as a Project Coordinator of the OXFAM Global Agricultural Project. I have also worked with La Via Campesina, providing technical support in program and policy development since its inception in 1993.
I have over 25 years of experience in facilitating the development of policy alternatives among farm, peasant, and rural women's organizations in a wide range of countries, both developing and developed. This includes extensive work in Nicaragua, Mexico, Honduras, Bolivia, Guatemala, India, and Canada. My work has included securing funding for various projects, facilitating participatory needs assessments, leadership capacity building, and developing effective strategies for the promotion of peasant and farmer generated alternatives in sustainable agricultural systems and practices. Much of this work has concentrated on integrating gender analysis and promoting gender equality both in international agricultural policy and programs and in specific peasant and farm organizations. My work in this area has been assisted by twelve years of running a sizeable farm operation in Canada.

In addition, I have conducted research on farm organizations' responses to changes in agricultural economies and the strategies that have been adopted to improve the quality of life in rural areas. Three years of participatory research in Mexico, Honduras, Bolivia, India, and Canada have impressed upon me both the general nature of development problems and the need for very flexible gender sensitive strategies to address those problems in various countries. Through work with farm and peasant organizations with very different approaches to gender issues, along with ethnic and cultural variations, I have developed skills needed to employ gender analysis in very different environments.

Other areas of relevant work include facilitating Gender and Development Training Workshops, providing a gender assessment of OXFAM-Canada's international programs and developing strategies for more gender sensitive programs, and work as a gender specialist on a CIDA funded water project in Egypt.