Discussion about the difference between organization and association

^{Rodríguez (1997)} in his master’s thesis notes that: “the term organization has commonly been used as a synonym for association; however, the organization term is used to account for companies or commercial firms, and the Association term, as synonymous with societies, i.e. society of social solidarity, limited company, to mention a few”.

In the case of the organization, the owners or persons in power organize the work of others; that is, workers or employees in order to achieve their own objectives and in the case of the association, the partners join their individual economic powers, to form a greater power and use it in the pursuit of their goals. By the above, a society must be understood as an association, while an organization must be understood as a company.

When referring to peasants, the difference between organization and association is also not clear, what is often done is to speak of organization as a synonym of association, but neither the term of organization nor the way in which peasants are grouped or united corresponds to the definitions mentioned above; however according to the previous precisions it is believed that the use of the term peasant association is more adequate than that of organization. Understood as an “instrument to establish purposes, to be constituted as a collective subject and to join forces or individual powers to form a greater power, sufficient to relate positively and successfully with other subjects on the road to the realization of the goals set by the peasants themselves”.

Types of social relations within associations

^{Rodríguez and Francisco (1997)}, refers to the types of social relations within the associations and its main characteristics.

Localization

The work was carried out in the community of La Sombra, in the municipality of Chiconquiaco, Veracruz (Figure 1). Geographically located at 19° 42’ and 19° 49’ north latitude 96° 39’ and 96° 52’ west longitude, which has an area of approximately 133.9 km2 and represents 0.2% of the state territory (^{SEFIPLAN, 2015}).

Figure 1 Geographic location of the Municipality of Chiconquiaco, Veracruz (^{SEFIPLAN, 2015}). 

The Municipality of Chiconquiaco is made up of 51 communities, of which 50 are rural. La Sombra is one of them, with approximately 1 042 inhabitants. The municipality depends entirely on the primary sector, since it generates 70.5% of the total number of jobs (INEGI, 2010). Its main activities are agriculture with 3 478.7 ha (coffee cherry, maize and beans) and livestock with 2 270 ha of total area (bovine, porcine, sheep, goat, poultry, turkey) (SAGARPA, 2015). The research was carried out during the 2015 year, as part of the field of association and peasant organization for rural development (DES634), taught in the Program in Rural Development Studies at the Colegio de Postgraduados.

A bibliographic review was carried out to determine the area of study for the preparation of an interview guide based mainly on the organization and lifestyle within the community of La Sombra, Chiconquiaco, Veracruz.

For this research the interview was used as the main research instrument. Key informants from the community who served as public servants were selected, among whom the following people were considered; Municipal agent, judge, ejidal commissary, chairmen of school committees, water committee, voluntary health promoter, etc.

For this research, it was particularly necessary to resort directly to the daily knowledge of the inhabitants of the community, who were personally approached to ask them about their daily work, their role within the community and together with their interests, economic activities and also their perception of the organization that exists within the community, in order to understand more about the logic and interests that govern this process.

Discussions

According to the field work done and the information obtained through the observations and interviews, it was identified that in the community there are different ways of associating or organizing, among which are: municipal agency, ejido, parent partnerships of the different educational institutions, beneficiaries of the Prospera social program, board of improvements and society of water (Table 1).

The organizations mentioned in the table form the social political structure of the community, which is governed by customs and habits, where the highest authority is the community assembly.

One of the findings resulting from the participation of individuals in the different representative committees of the organizations gives the participating individuals a sense of belonging to the community and makes them aware of the needs of association to pursue common goals.

The organizations mentioned in the table form the social political structure of the community, which is governed by customs and habits, where the highest authority is the community assembly.

One of the findings resulting from the participation of individuals in the different representative committees of the organizations gives the participating individuals a sense of belonging to the community and makes them aware of the needs of association to pursue common goals.

According to ^{Niño (1991)} through an organization process, the collective subject distributes, among the individual subjects that compose it, tasks, means and power necessary to achieve objectives and purposes shared by them; this is verified by observing and analyzing the dynamics of life in which the members of La Sombra community interact and develop.

Involving all members of a society, both women and men, make social organizations take shape, because the members of this society actively participate to demand their rights before the corresponding authorities, according to Le Bot (2015), this type of struggle has developed in Mexico over time with results close to expectations.

Another essential element of La Sombra community is the participation of the population in collective work. This participation is conceived as an obligation and as a requirement for a person to be considered a full member of the town. One of the most important forms of this participation is the work called faena that is practiced in conjunction with other ejidos.

According to ^{Navarrete (2008)} this work is not remunerated, as it is considered as mandatory. The mobilization of all members of the community allows for public works in a cheaper and efficient way. On the other hand, it is an element that equates the richest with the poorest. It thus reinforces the idea of the community and the reciprocal, ie, equal and corresponding, ties of exchange between its members.

Conclusions

La Sombra community in the municipality of Chiconquiaco, Veracruz, uses the organization as a management tool before the institutions, to obtain support from them and improve their living conditions; however, on many occasions this has been limited by the geographical issues of the community.

In this way, it is observed that in La Sombra community, as in other rural communities, far from services and infrastructure, they have had to organize themselves to be able to satisfy their needs with common objectives, where reciprocity relations are established and trust, developing processes of social participation, which are reflected in the faenas and solidarity demonstrations in cases of emergencies or natural disasters.

As part of the internal organization, La Sombra community is integrated by legal and algal organizations and associations that together maintain the order and dynamics of the local population in addition to contributing to their social and economic benefit.

One of the main problems that the organizations of La Sombra have are the bad conditions in the communication channels which has repercussions in its economy and social welfare.

Take advantage of existing organizations and establish them legally and adequately, and thus have the personality and representativeness necessary to manage various institutional supports, contract credits, make purchases and sales, according to fiscal requirements, protect resources and assets, expand alliances with other sectors and companies.