Transgenic Crops in Latin America: Expropriation, Negative Value and the State

Abstract

This paper introduces a symposium on transgenic crops and neoliberalism in Latin America. We address the question: What is the relationship between the neoliberal food regime and transgenic crops in Latin American agriculture? Our goals are, first, to provide the main conceptual definitions and analytical parameters to contextualize the case studies that follow; and, second, using the findings of our contributors as our empirical stepping stone, to briefly elaborate the concepts of expropriation, accumulation by dispossession and negative value as the primary consequences of the neoliberal food regime. We also offer a brief description of each of the papers in the symposium that follows, linking them to our theoretical proposal. We hope this symposium will help in further exploration of the connection between GM crops and the larger dynamics of capitalist development worldwide.

Dependent development in South America: China and the soybean nexus

“…This dynamic has been conceptualised as an expression of the “reprimarisation” of South American economies (McKay, Alonso‐Fradejas, Sauer, & Xu, ). An extensive body of literature has explored the socio‐economic and environmental impacts of the resulting natural resource extraction—or “extractivism”—in the region, as well as the accompanying technologies, such as the extensive utilisation of genetically modified (GM) crops (Fearnside, ; García‐López & Arizpe, ; Greenpeace, ; Lapegna, ; Leguizamón, ; Otero & Lapegna, ).…”

Reflections on How State–Civil Society Collaborations Play out in the Context of Land Grabbing in Argentina

“…The expansion of large-scale agriculture, plantation forestry, and nature conservation initiatives has led to many issues related to land use, including rural violence, land tenure insecurity for smallholders, and the violation of the rights of indigenous peoples [12,34,[38][39][40][41]. Land grabbing has led to food security issues for local communities, as well as to environmental degradation and health issues associated with agrochemical use [42,43]. Another impact is an increase in land prices [13,44].…”

Nosotros Decimos Ma’: La Lucha Contra la Soya Transgénica y La Rearticulación de la Identidad Maya en la Península de Yucatán1

“…La discusión que propongo generar surge de una reflexión más amplia en torno a los tipos de lucha y estrategias desplegados por aquellos grupos de la sociedad civil que se oponen a los cultivos transgénicos en diferentes contextos latinoamericanos y la judicialización de estas luchas . Ambos procesos ofrecen elementos empíricos para afinar nuestra comprensión en relación a un nuevo régimen de gobernanza mundial dirigido a la producción de alimentos que se instauró en la década de 1980 y que la sociedad civil enfrenta desde la década de 1990 (McMichael ; Otero ; Otero and Lapegna ). Para el caso aquí presentado, la novedad del modelo radica en el fuerte impulso por parte del gobierno mexicano hacia una reconversión productiva del sector agropecuario que ha incluido recortes de subsidios al sector campesino, el abandono de la autosuficiencia alimentaria como meta de desarrollo nacional y la instauración de un monopolio empresarial en la producción y comercialización de semillas y de productos agropecuarios, biotecnológicos y agroquímicos (Rubio ; Yúnez Naude ).…”