THE RURAL YOUTH CONDITION IN AGRICULTURAL TERRITORIES

Through the recovery of two qualitative studies based on grounded theory and participatory action research, the article provides elements for the understanding of the rural youth condition, questioning the possibilities, both current and future, of rural youth to integrate into agriculture dominated by agribusiness that emerged in the area of Ixtlahuacan del Rio and Cuquio, in Jalisco, Mexico. The structural and territorial dimensions of the rural youth condition allow us to understand the crisis that looms over rural youth and the new generations, based on the examination of the corn monoculture system and exploring its socio-environmental effects; while the intersubjective dimension gives us a panorama of the daily life of youth and intergenerational relations and their conflicts in the face of such a scenario. All together, it shows the complexity of rural spaces intervened by agribusiness and the threat they represent to the future of rural youth and of the territories themselves.