Open Veins Revisited: Charting the Social, Economic, and Political Contours of the New Extractivism in Latin America

Socio-territorial Disputes and Violence on Fracking Land in Vaca Muerta, Argentina

“…Linking the idea of the commodity frontier with debates on extractivism in Latin America (Farthing and Fabricant, 2018) is interesting because they may complement each other to provide a correct theoretical approach for our case study. One of the outstanding contributions is that of Gudynas (2009; 2013), who differentiates the extractivism under neoliberal policies of center-right governments from the neo-extractivism promoted by progressive governments of the so-called pink tide.…”

“…Drawing on these observations, we synthetically define extractivism as a multidimensional process that involves ( a ) intensive use of renewable and nonrenewable natural resources on a large scale (Farthing and Fabricant, 2018; Gudynas, 2009; 2013); ( b ) orientation of production toward exportation where the global market in commodities reinforces the international colonial division of labor, nature, and production (Coronil, 2003; Gudynas, 2013); ( c ) the commodification of nature (Coronil, 2003; Giarracca and Teubal, 2013); ( d ) increasing financialization of activity (Giarracca and Teubal, 2013; Svampa, 2012); ( e ) intensive use of capital by large national or transnational companies, which have become top players (Giarracca and Teubal, 2013; Svampa, 2012); ( f ) negative social, health, and environmental impacts (Gudynas, 2009; 2013; Svampa, 2012); ( g ) displacement and dispossession of local populations (Giarracca and Teubal, 2013) through various types of violence against peasant, indigenous, and Afro-descendant communities, among other subaltern actors; and ( h ) strong state involvement in these activities through subsidies, tax exemptions, regulations, and deregulation and/or scant control over their social, health, and environmental impacts (Gudynas, 2009; Svampa, 2012).…”

Film Review: Two Stories about Extractivism

“…This difference, however, is absent from the themes developed in the film. Extractivism, understood as the exploitation of natural resources, has been key in the development model in the Americas since the colonies, part of the material and socio-historical foundation of the continent's nations (Farthing and Fabricant, 2018). It constitutes a focus of reproduction for the capitalist system and therefore of relations of inequality.…”

The politics of bachaqueo

“…Furthermore, bachaqueo reflects the ambivalent relation between oil and indigeneity, especially amid the rise and fall of the “new extractivism” in Latin America. Since the early 2000s, left‐wing governments have embraced this post‐neoliberal development model, which seeks to expand oil, mineral, and monocrop revenue for funding progressive policies (Farthing and Fabricant 2018, 6–7). The state has played here a key role in undertaking extractive projects, easing environmental regulations and limiting opposition to extractivism (Gudynas 2010, 1, 6).…”