Integrated justice approach to land reform: Why is it important and how?, by Cynthia Embido Bejeno

Abstract                          

The unjust (re)distribution of resources (in this case land) between and amongst classes and gender persists. Justice lens is explored here to better understand and intervene in the agrarian land concern. As oftentimes, gender justice on land is neglected or hardly advanced by the state, the social movement, and even by the women’s movement, the integrated justice approach is found here useful. In many experiences, including the Philippines, while peasant women lead and take the frontline roles in advancing land, the women’s strategic gender interests are, however, often neglected and overshadowed by class-based concerns. This paper argues that the class and gender-based land injustice are interconnectedly shaped by economic maldistribution, cultural misrecognition, and political misrepresentation. Thus, land question requires analyses and interventions that integrate the economic, cultural, and political aspects of justice or here coined as integrated justice approach. This approach becomes more relevant considering the on-going agrarian structure, which is often marred by violence from the opposing landlords and lack of political will from the agrarian program enforcers, operating through an outdated set of gendered norms and values.

Keywords

Gender, integrated justice, land reform, (social) peasant movement, The Philippines.

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