Objective:

Contribute to the discussion of the peasant question in the 21st century. It considers peasant identities as a factor of change and continuity that explain their permanence in the hostile scenarios of modernisation.

Methodology:

The empirical support is provided by the voices of peasants from Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico and the Department of Cauca, Colombia, collected through participatory research during 2019 and 2020.

Results:

Those reveal a range of identities that include both imposed and self-affirmed identities, which allow us to understand that the relationship with the land is not limited to its use, but also questions of well-being, freedom, security and care; that peasant work, although it includes a multiplicity of nonagricultural activities, does not lose this character.

Limitations:

The age and gender specificities of the peasants with whom the dialogue took place were not analysed, as the participants were mostly male adults.

Conclusions:

Peasant identities are a reflection of the hegemonic power within which subaltern groups operate; but they also express a sense of being a peasant, created in their historical development and that refers to a collective way of life based on the family and the land, which is why the permanent struggle with the corporate food regime keeps the peasant in constant tension.