Extractivism, capital reproduction pattern and land rent: theoretical proposal from critical political economy

Abstract

Latin American studies on extractivism have generated important contributions by making visible, denouncing, and characterizing multiple socio-environmental conflicts that emerge around the large-scale production of food and raw materials exported to the world market. However, there is an imbalance in these investigations. While there is an abundance of research characterizing socio-environmental dynamics and conflicts in different territories, the discussion and theoretical construction of the concept of extractivism are limited. The purpose of this article is to propose a theoretical debate that, taking into account the previous contributions, makes a conceptual proposal regarding extractivism, taking into account the multiple dimensions and scales that compose it. To this end, we propose to understand the notion of extractivism at a level of abstraction that allows the analysis of the historical and geographical modalities of dependent capitalism in its trans-state, national and territorial manifestations. In this sense, we understand it as a specific modality of the pattern of reproduction of export capital where the capture of land rent has a central role in the axis sectors of capital. Thus, we aim to contribute with a framework for the development of empirical studies on the dynamics raised by extractivism in its different scales.