GLD would like to welcome you to our Spring 2025 Work-in-Progress Series. This series offers scholars from around the world an opportunity to present and receive feedback on their works in progress, including manuscripts, PAPs, conference papers, articles, etc. This series is virtual and open to anyone to attend; we look forward to seeing you there!
The Spring Work-in-Progress Series will be held on Zoom and in-person in Lilla Skansen at the Department of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg. If you plan to attend virtually, please register at the link above - you only need to register once and you will have access to the whole series.
Brian Palmer-Rubin, University of Southern California
This article examines how smallholder farmers in Mexico adapt to the opportunities and risks of globalized agriculture. Drawing on fieldwork, an original survey of farmers, and two embedded experiments, I analyze whether and how social capital facilitates sustainable rural upgrading. Focusing on the expanding berry industry in Mexico, I show that bonding social capital—ties within collective landholding associations—supports transitions into high-value crops, while bridging social capital—connections to external actors—encourages engagement in environmental governance. These effects are conditional: social capital is most effective among respondents with access to enabling resources such as education and irrigation. The findings suggest that moral economies can support upgrading for marginal economic actors, but that their reach is limited by class constraints. By clarifying the social foundations of rural adaptation, the study contributes to ongoing debates about inclusive development under neoliberal globalization.
