Bolivia's soy complex: the development of 'productive exclusion'. Issue 2 (3rd March 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: McKay, Ben; Colque, Gonzalo
• Is Part Of: Journal of peasant studies. Volume 43:Issue 2(2016)
• Page Start: 583
• Page End: 610
• Publication Date: 2016-03-03
• Subjects: soy -- productive exclusion -- Bolivia -- access relations -- semi-proletarianization; Peasantry -- Periodicals; Sociology, Rural -- Periodicals; Rural development -- Periodicals; 305.563305
• DOI: 10.1080/03066150.2015.1053875
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-6150

Abstract

Abstract : A significant transition is underway in Bolivia where both domestic and foreign capital are monopolizing commercial agriculture and leading a highly mechanized, capital-intensive production model which has considerably diminished the need for labour. This paper explores mechanisms and processes of 'productive exclusion' in the soy-producing zones of Santa Cruz in relation to the expansion, concentration and mechanization of the 'soy complex'. We provide an analysis of how the agrarian structure has developed since soy was adopted – from 'putting land into production' to 'expanding the agricultural frontier' and 'controlling the agro-industrial chain'. We explore how and the extent to which the penetration of new capital is leading to new processes of agrarian change which exclude the rural majority from accessing the means of production. While a process of 'foreignization' of land began to take shape in the early 1990s, new processes of capital accumulation are eroding the ability of small farmers to engage in productive activity, potentially leading to 'surplus' populations no longer needed for capital accumulation.