Subjetividad cuentapropista en el sector campesino colombiano. Formas de trabajo y relación con la tierra en la experiencia de familias campesinas de Antioquia y Caldas, Colombia

This study sought to elucidate the types of subjectivity observed among self-employed farmers in Colombia. Research was conducted in three Colombian municipalities, two in the department of Antioquia and one in Caldas. Symbolic interactionism was employed as methodology and sampling was conducted using the snowball method. In addition, guidelines for theoretical sampling were followed with participants from eight rural family units. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed using grounded theory concepts and mechanisms. Findings suggest that: (1) there is a form of subjectivity among self-employed farmers who work their own land; (2) such subjectivity entails a reciprocal relationship where the farmer cares for the land and vice-versa; (3) furthermore, the self-employed lifestyle produces a unique relationship between the subject and time, which we called ‘the subject-land temporality’. The study concludes that the self-employed lifestyle and subjectivity constitute an alternate route that is not captured by neoliberal imperatives of the present.