Resumen

CACERES, Daniel M. The sustainability of peasant systems analyzed from two approaches: States vs. Processes. INCI [online]. 2008, vol.33, n.8, pp.578-585. ISSN 0378-1844.

Currently, the debate on sustainability issues permeates almost every corner of the social field. However, researches aiming at making the concept more operational are not widespread, and most of the times their contributions stay within theoretical grounds. From a conceptual point of view, this paper discusses the convenience of approaching the concept of sustainability from two perspectives: "states" versus "processes". Drawing upon an ad-hoc framework, three environmental and three socioeconomic indicators were created which were integrated in a farm sustainability index (FSI). The indicators were evaluated systematically during five consecutive years, aiming at assessing the sustainability of 14 peasant farms, located in central Argentina. Results show that in 57% of the farms there is a reduction on the FSI. These findings are analyzed in the light of the two perspectives mentioned above. It is argued that the "processes" approach may be more appropriate than the "states" approach to measure the sustainability of farming systems.

Palabras clave : Indicadores de Sustentabilidad; Índices de Sustentabilidad; Sistemas Campesinos; Sustentabilidad.