Agrarian extractivism: Addressing actors and their agency at the national level

Abstract

The literature on the transformation of Latin American agrarian productive and trade patterns (1990s to 2010s) tends to overemphasize traits of the agrarian extractivism concept, such as intensive mono‐production for exportation, sectoral disarticulation, concentration of benefits and power outside the producing nation, and degradation of environmental and labor conditions. At the same time, an analysis of the experiences of the Argentine and Brazilian soy chains shows that they include characteristics that the literature does not usually incorporate. After reviewing the literature and two case studies, we discuss the need to incorporate the agency of national state and nonstate actors into the analysis of agrarian extractivism. We argue that addressing this level and these actors' agency is necessary to understand the potential link between agrarian extractivism and economic development in Latin America. Empirical research relies on publications based on fieldwork and statistics. This article theorizes that agrarian systems are made up of chains whose links specialize in different distinct functions, and their actors' economic behavior is determined by their decision‐making (agency) capacity and rational choice. Power in chains is relational and mutates over time and according to changes in context, so this configuration opens the possibility of fostering economic development options through national actors and justifies their inclusion in the analysis of agrarian extractivism.