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Soybeans and Power: Genetically Modified Crops, Environmental Politics, and Social Movements in Argentina

Author

Listed:
  • Lapegna, Pablo

    (University of Georgia)

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Lapegna, Pablo, 2016. "Soybeans and Power: Genetically Modified Crops, Environmental Politics, and Social Movements in Argentina," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780190215149.
  • Handle: RePEc:oxp:obooks:9780190215149
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    Cited by:

    1. Andrew L. Ofstehage, 2018. "Financialization of work, value, and social organization among transnational soy farmers in the Brazilian Cerrado," Economic Anthropology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(2), pages 274-285, June.
    2. Aniket Aga, 2021. "Environment and its Forms of Knowledge: The Regulation of Genetically Modified Crops in India," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 37(2), pages 167-183, June.
    3. Sebastián Huneeus & Sergio Toro & Juan Pablo Luna & Diego Sazo & Andrés Cruz & Daniel Alcatruz & Bryan Castillo & Camila Bertranou & Javier Cisterna, 2021. "Delayed and Approved: A Quantitative Study of Conflicts and the Environmental Impact Assessments of Energy Projects in Chile 2012–2017," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-13, June.
    4. Arce, Moises & Nieto-Matiz, Camilo, 2024. "Mining and violence in Latin America: The state’s coercive responses to anti-mining resistance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    5. Pierre Delvenne, 2021. "Cultivating power, enacting consent. A critical review of ‘Seeds of power. Environmental injustice and genetically modified soybeans in Argentina’, (A. Leguizamón) 2020, Duke University Press, 221 p," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Springer, vol. 102(4), pages 441-447, December.
    6. Ravikumar, Ashwin & Chairez Uriarte, Esperanza & Lizano, Daniela & Muñoz Ledo Farré, Andrea & Montero, Mariel, 2023. "How payments for ecosystem services can undermine Indigenous institutions: The case of Peru's Ampiyacu-Apayacu watershed," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    7. Maria Eugenia Giraudo & Jean Grugel, 2022. "Imaginaries of Soy and the Costs of Commodity‐led Development: Reflections from Argentina," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 53(4), pages 796-826, July.

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