Soybeans and Power

Genetically Modified Crops, Environmental Politics, and Social Movements in Argentina
Erscheinungsjahr 2016
ISBN: 978-0-19-021514-9
Verlag: OUP US

Buch, Englisch, 248 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 428 g

In 1996, the Argentine government authorized the use of genetically modified (GM), herbicide-resistance soybean seeds. By the mid-2000s, GM soybeans were cultivated on more than half of the arable land in Argentina and represented one-fourth of the country's exports. While this agricultural boom has benefitted agribusiness companies and fed tax revenues, it also has a dark side: it has accelerated the deforestation of native forests, prompted the eviction of indigenous and peasant families, and spurred episodes of contamination.

In Soybeans and Power, Pablo Lapegna investigates the ways in which rural populations have coped with GM soybean expansion in Argentina. Based on over a decade of ethnographic research, Lapegna reveals that many communities initially resisted, yet ultimately adapted to the new agricultural technologies forced upon them by public officials. However, rather than painting the decline of the protests in an exclusively negative light, Lapegna argues that the farmers played an active role in their own demobilization, switching to tactics of negotiation and accommodation in order to maneuver the situation to their advantage. Lapegna offers a rare, on the ground glimpse into the life cycle of a social movement, from mobilization and protest to demobilization and resigned acceptance.

Through the case study of Argentina, a major player in the use and export of GM crops, Soybeans and Power gives voice to the communities most adversely affected by GM technology, as well as the strategies that they have enacted in order to survive.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Lapegna, Pablo

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Internationale Wirtschaft Entwicklungsökonomie & Emerging Markets
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Angewandte Ethik & Soziale Verantwortung Wissenschaftsethik, Technikethik
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftssektoren & Branchen Fertigungsindustrie Spitzentechnologiesektor
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen Entwicklungspolitik, Nord-Süd Beziehungen
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Entwicklungsstudien
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftssektoren & Branchen Primärer Sektor Agrarökonomie, Ernährungswirtschaft
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Ethnologie Kultur- und Sozialethnologie: Allgemeines
• Technische Wissenschaften Verfahrenstechnik | Chemieingenieurwesen | Biotechnologie Biotechnologie Medizinische Biotechnologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Introduction

- GM Crops, Global Ethnography, and the Dynamics of De-Mobilization

- Chapter One: The Dark Side of the Boom

- Neoliberalization, GM Soybeans, and Environmental Change in Argentina

- Chapter Two: Emergence

- Peasants, Politics, and Patrons: Rural Social Movements in Formosa (1970s-2000s)

- Chapter Three: Contention

- Peasants Confronting GM Soybeans and Agrochemical Exposure (2003)

- Chapter Four: Demobilization

- Peasants, Governments, and Constituents Across Political Scales (2004-2013)

- Chapter Five: Accommodation

- Peasants Negotiating GM Crops and Agrochemical Exposure (2009-2013)

- Conclusion: Companion Planting

- The Crucible of GM Crops, Global Processes, and Social Movements

- Appendix: On the Ethnographic Craft

Über Autor(innen)

Pablo Lapegna is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of Georgia