Maria Andrea Nardi | Lund University (original) (raw)

Books by Maria Andrea Nardi

During the 1990s, Latin America went through important structural transformations. The continent ... more During the 1990s, Latin America went through important structural transformations. The continent experienced a profound alteration in the relations between the state, society, market and natural environment. Societies have been trying to accommodate, contest and resist this restructuring, particularly once it became evident its negative effects on poverty reduction and the increasingly social and geographical inequalities. In the province of Misiones, northeast Argentina, neoliberal-inspired territorial transformations occurred in the 1990s and 2000s. Along with decreasingly favourable market conditions for small-scale agriculture production, different conflicts over land were catalysed. Eventually,the whole new economic development model based on the opening up of the provincial economy started to be questioned by many actors, who questioned as well the traditional patterns of farming production. In this context, a rural development arena emerged. This arena is a social and political space of participation and debate concerning the farming sector, an arena from which “alternative” rural development discourses and practices emerge. Novel strategies have fuelled interesting territorial dynamics that focus on the creation of new local ways of life, agricultures and markets.

In this context, the objective of this thesis is to analyse the diverse understandings of rural development actors have, as well as the consequences of alternative rural development interventions in family agriculture. In particular, I am interested in scrutinizing how different discourses and practices (material expressions) frame and create new relations between society and state, market and nature. The ultimate aim of the research is to contribute to the current debate in Latin America about social change in rural areas, by exploring the linkages between rural development strategies and the construction of new geographies, new territories.

The thesis have sought to answer the following research questions: What narratives and discourses on development are currently disputing the territory in the province of Misiones? What kinds of territories are under construction as a result of “alternative development” strategies and practices implemented by different actors in the rural development arena in interaction with “conventional” development strategies? In what ways are the new territorial dynamics reflecting the construction of an alternative development(s) and new territories and geographies?

The evidence shows that actors in the rural development arena seek to put into practice agroecology, a kind of agriculture environmental and socially oriented, as a means to sustain agriculture and at the same time allow ‘rooting’ families to land. Agroecology is a territorial dynamic that intends to “fix people in space” by giving them the chance to live on agriculture or in the countryside and appropriate their territory. By creating new projects, new horizons of actions and thoughts and by being farmers and putting land under production, the family agriculture sector sustains and reproduces itself. However, if these projects do not bring in the middle and long term wellbeing to people, rooting farmers to land will be assisting subsistence agriculture and the reproduction of cheap labour force for the agroindustrial companies with economic interests in Misiones. Particularly, in the case of tobacco, since there seems to be currently few alternatives to this crop that could provide stable monetary incomes to families. For families to be rooted instead of moving to towns and cities or in search of new lands, or providing cheap labour to companies while eking out a living from subsistence agriculture, discourses and practices must contribute to the creation of material possibilities and bring about in the long term structural changes: legal access to land, fair participation in markets, strong participation in policy making, etc.

Interventions in ecological agriculture are not just an attack on what locally has been labelled as ‘conventional’ and ‘modern’ agriculture; they are at the same time constructing new opportunities, together and despite that kind of agriculture. What started once as a promotion and strengthening of subsistence agriculture, developed into a movement for another agriculture (una otra agricultura). In confronting and creating alternatives, the roles of the state, the market and nature were redefined and reappropriated by people.

Papers by Maria Andrea Nardi

This paper presents some preliminary empirical reflexions about rural development in North East A... more This paper presents some preliminary empirical reflexions about rural development in North East Argentina at the light of the recent socio-economic and political changes. The processes of decentralization that have taken place in the country during the decade of 1990 illustrate the complexity of rural development strategies at local level and the necessity to create policies to take into account the collective actions from below or to promote them in those territories where they do not exist. These kind of collective actions are considered by some authors to play an important role in processes of democratization.

In diverse countries of the continent, environmental transformations -and the injustices connecte... more In diverse countries of the continent, environmental transformations -and the injustices connected- have traditionally been studied in the case of extractive industries, such as mining, oil or agriculture. However, in the present study we want to discuss these concerns in the context of mega-projects that are commonly considered part of a “sustainable development”. Renewable, clean or green technology is not usually framed as ‘extractive’. We argue here that in some contexts large scale wind-parks might be working against sustainable development, when producing environmental injustices and generating social discontent and protest. We propose to use an environmental justice approach in order to understand why the Zapotecas and Huaves communities are opposing the wind energy park project, or ‘clean energy’. We aimed at exploring and discussing different ways in which eco-friendly projects or green energy investments result in (re)new environmental injustices. (Less)

Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Nardi, A. (2010). Territorial dynamics ... more Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Nardi, A. (2010). Territorial dynamics and agro-ecology. Food production and the construction of local markets in Misiones (Northeastern Argentina). Paper presented at 5th Nordic Latin American Research Network (NOLAN) Conference "Society, Culture and Nature in Latin America. New Political Tendencies", Denmark.

El Desarrollo Y Sus Logicas En Disputa En Territorios Del Norte Argentino, 2010

Xi Seminario Internacional De La Rii, 2010

Latin America attends currently to the construction of a paradigm of rural development based on t... more Latin America attends currently to the construction of a paradigm of rural development based on the potentiality of the territory to encourage processes of rural wellbeing. Some international studies relating rural development to territory from an institutional perspective have recently come out, greatly contributing to the construction of a territorially based rural development in the region. The paradigm is mainly centred in a monetary approach, stressing the need to increase incomes at local level through new agricultural or non-agricultural production and/or increases in productivity as well as through education for migrating to urban areas. Development policies and projects that promote social and institutional transformation have to deal with the confrontation of those who oppose changing the status quo, particularly the local elites, and the resistance of those communities that consider that their identities may be lost as a result of that transformation. Therefore, a critical approach to territory (understood as an arena where different local and non local actors try to realize their projects) should be build up in order to comprehend the process generating rural poverty and development. The purpose of this paper is to present the main ideas and concepts of an analytical framework under construction that may allow us to understand rural development from a critical territorial approach. The hypothesis is that social mobilization of local actors is a main issue when approaching and promoting development in poor rural regions of Latin American countries, especially the organization of peasants and farmers as they constitute the majority of the inhabitants and are largely excluded from the socioeconomic and political system. 1 This paper is part of my doctorate thesis project conducted from 2006 and as a proposal these ideas may need further exploration. I will be very much grateful for receiving comments, critics and opinions.

Más allá de la inserción a los mercados globales. Otras opciones de desarrollo a través de la art... more Más allá de la inserción a los mercados globales. Otras opciones de desarrollo a través de la articulación entre actores locales en tres territorios rurales del norte de Argentina. 74-96. Paper presented at X International Seminar of the Network of Iberoamerican Researcher's on Globalization and Territory,. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ?

… De Estudios Urbano …, 2009

The strategies of development in rural territories in the provinces of Jujuy, Misiones and Salta ... more The strategies of development in rural territories in the provinces of Jujuy, Misiones and Salta in Argentina provide the objects of study in this analysis. These three cases reveal that there has been a process of consolidation of grass-roots organization since 1990, which seems ...

NGO: Nongovernmental Organization 6 Chapter I-Introduction 12 Chapter I-Introduction markets (fer... more NGO: Nongovernmental Organization 6 Chapter I-Introduction 12 Chapter I-Introduction markets (ferias francas) taking into consideration the study in the selected municipalities. I focus on the actors involved, their discourse and practical strategies implemented, the collective social and political spaces constructed to promote and construct a different agriculture in Misiones and the conflicts in the process. Subsequently, in the concluding chapter VIII, I critically reflect on the construction of an "alternative" rural development model in Misiones and new territories. New actors, new interests and new possibilities are being created, which challenge dominant roles of the state, market and nature in development. These elements are signs of a gradual process towards a new, different kind of development in the province. However, how structural are these changes? How alternative is the alternative rural development? I also comment here upon the importance of the study in terms of theory generation and policy making. Finally, I propose some topics and research questions for further studies. Local markets are defined here as the commercialization side of this kind of agriculture, spaces where rural families detain greater autonomy and participation and where the logics of profit maximisation are not the only ones that predominate but also urban-rural solidarity, farmer-consumers interactions, actors cooperation, environmental care, social justice and fair price, etc. There may be other spheres of commercialization (e.g. a central provincial market for food gathering) that even not local, they function with these similar logics. bread" (squatter farmer, San Pedro, 2009). In the following chapters, the analysis of discourses, practices, conflicts and cooperation among those actors intervening in family agriculture is undertaken.

Scripta Nova Revista Electronica De Geografia Y Ciencias Sociales, 2010

gener, 2010

Pasados 50 años de la Alianza para el Progreso las políticas de planificación territorial fracasa... more Pasados 50 años de la Alianza para el Progreso las políticas de planificación territorial fracasaron en América Latina. El BM y el BID, instrumentos de la política exterior estadounidense para su hegemonía mundial y regional, son sus principales fuentes financieras y doctrinarias y ...

In this paper we call into question the relationship between development, inequality and territor... more In this paper we call into question the relationship between development, inequality and territory in the current context of globalization and within the framework of public policies designed, supposedly, to benefit those social actors with fewer resources.

In order to do this, we focus on a case study in the northeast of the province of Misiones, Argentina. Here tobacco production, forestry and alternative family farming (AF) (dedicated to food production) are in dispute over the territory, leading to conflict over private land occupation.

The analysis evidences: (a) The territorial changes resulting from globalization processes in local areas. (b) The ways in which these changes affect and limit the development proposals arising from public policy aimed at alleviating social inequality. To
advance in the understanding of these processes we need to: (a) Recognize the different views and methods that account for social, economic, political and institutional inequality, both from the perspective of the actors and in its material expression in the territory. (b) Identify the power relationships in the area (particularly in relation to the dispute over the use and appropriation of land). And (c) examine the various and contradictory models and development proposals that express these relationships.

The study is based on a qualitative methodology focused on a case study and centered in interviews conducted during 2008 and 2009 to the main actors involved in the conflict over land in the northeast area of the province of Misiones, Argentina.

The study shows the contradictions of public policy that proclaim productive growth and development in a legal framework for liberalization and deregulation in favor of large-scale transnational investment, underpinned by large-scale productive activities, highly demanding of land and water. Such investments, by contrast, have an insubstantial labor requirement.

This conception of development implicit in the economic growth proposal by those sectors that hegemonize economic power, social inequality is displayed as a "negative externality" that must somehow be contained,assisted; ignoring or hiding the fact that only structural changes can overcome those inequalities. In short,
this is a conceptual, ideological and pragmatic framework which implies a non-viable context for family farming.

In turn, small-scale farmers and rural workers who manage to achieve a greater understanding of these processes are challenging the dominant development model, as well as the strategic alliances that the state maintains with those powerful sectors. And from this perspective, they struggle to play a role in development by producing food, from and for their place and/or province.

Scripta Nova. Revista …, Jan 1, 2010

After 50 years the Alliance for Progress was launched, the policies for territorial planning in L... more After 50 years the Alliance for Progress was launched, the policies for territorial planning in Latin America have proved to fail. The WB and the IADB, instruments of the US international politics for the consolidation of its global and regional hegemony, are its main financial and doctrinaire sources. These agencies’ logics prevail in the general and territorial planning. In the aftermath of the structural adjustments programs, with the doctrine of global governance the WB and the IADB seek to extend social capitalist relations, encouraging (semi)periferic bourgeouisies to speed up their competitive integration into the world market. The RIISA and the Puebla Panamá Plan are the territorial core of the project: they shape new export-extractive geographies legitimized with urban environmental infrastructures and a discourse on transparency simultaneously with an increasing repression.

Th e strategies of development in rural territories in the provinces of Jujuy, Misiones and Salta... more Th e strategies of development in rural territories in the provinces of Jujuy, Misiones and Salta in Argentina provide the objects of study in this analysis. Th ese three cases reveal that there has been a process of consolidation of grass-roots organization since 1990, which seems to have strengthened the historically marginalized sectors of the population. New kinds of relationships
between the state and civil society have also appeared, leading to rural development institutions which are actively involved with poor rural families. For the analysis of these processes the following premises are generated: a) territory expresses social and spatial relations of power; b) rural development must imply greater autonomy for the benefi ciary population in the processes of public and private decision-making and management. Only in this way it is possible for development to lead to a new territoriality (a change in spatially bounded power relations). Th e article is organized by initially presenting the objectives and the cases, followed by a presentation of the theoretical framework relating to development, territory and power, a characterization of the analyzed experiences, and fi nally some comparative reflections

EURE (Santiago), Jan 1, 2009

Elobjeto de este estudio es el Programa Social Agropecuario (PSA) y su interacción con diferentes... more Elobjeto de este estudio es el Programa Social Agropecuario (PSA) y su interacción con diferentes actores locales en la conformación de las ferias francas en la provincia de Misiones. Estos espacios de comercialización de la pequeña producción agropecuaria comenzaron a organizarse a partir de 1995 y contaron con la participación no sólo del PSA, sino también del gobierno provincial, de las municipalidades y de varias organizaciones existentes en la provincia, como el Movimiento Agrario Misionero, el Instituto de Desarrollo Social y Promoción Humana, la Pastoral Social, el Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Cáritas y la Red de Agricultura Orgánica de Misiones, entre otras. El tejido institucional resultante de este complejo proceso de vinculación y articulación estaría permitiendo que las acciones realizadas en desarrollo rural en la provincia de Misiones generen una dinámica territorial particular que podría estar contribuyendo a un desarrollo local más participativo.

The concept of proximity has its origins at the beginning of the years ’90 in France with the stu... more The concept of proximity has its origins at the beginning of the years ’90 in France with the studies from the Group of the Dynamics of the Proximity. The importance of the territorial proximity for the development is considered basically through studies centred in the analysis of industrial dynamic and innovative environments. Its relationship with the local development in poor rural areas has been almost not considered. This work attempts to advance in the understanding of the local rural development from a perspective centred in the relationships of proximity focusing in the process of conformation of first local farmers’ fairs in Misiones, North-eastern Argentina.

Trabajo presentado en el IV Coloquio sobre …, Jan 1, 2002

El siguiente trabajo es el avance de una investigación sobre desarrollo rural y local desde una p... more El siguiente trabajo es el avance de una investigación sobre desarrollo rural y local desde una perspectiva institucional. La articulación de distintos actores, confluyendo en una estrategia de acción conjunta genera particularidades institucionales que dan origen a dinámicas territoriales. Esto podría contribuir al desarrollo de los ámbitos locales en los que se generan y para ello, la participación de la población en la organización, gestión y ejecución de proyectos de desarrollo rural tiene un rol central. Nuestro objeto de estudio es el Programa Social Agropecuario 1 y su interacción con diferentes actores locales en la conformación de espacios de comercialización de la pequeña producción agropecuaria en la provincia de Misiones-noreste argentino-. Este programa lleva a cabo acciones en materia de organización y capacitación para la gestión de estos emprendimientos innovativos. Las ferias francas misioneras comenzaron a organizarse a partir de 1995 y contaron con la participación del PSA, el gobierno provincial, los municipales y varias organizaciones existentes en la provincia, como el Movimiento Agrario Misionero, el

During the 1990s, Latin America went through important structural transformations. The continent ... more During the 1990s, Latin America went through important structural transformations. The continent experienced a profound alteration in the relations between the state, society, market and natural environment. Societies have been trying to accommodate, contest and resist this restructuring, particularly once it became evident its negative effects on poverty reduction and the increasingly social and geographical inequalities. In the province of Misiones, northeast Argentina, neoliberal-inspired territorial transformations occurred in the 1990s and 2000s. Along with decreasingly favourable market conditions for small-scale agriculture production, different conflicts over land were catalysed. Eventually,the whole new economic development model based on the opening up of the provincial economy started to be questioned by many actors, who questioned as well the traditional patterns of farming production. In this context, a rural development arena emerged. This arena is a social and political space of participation and debate concerning the farming sector, an arena from which “alternative” rural development discourses and practices emerge. Novel strategies have fuelled interesting territorial dynamics that focus on the creation of new local ways of life, agricultures and markets.

In this context, the objective of this thesis is to analyse the diverse understandings of rural development actors have, as well as the consequences of alternative rural development interventions in family agriculture. In particular, I am interested in scrutinizing how different discourses and practices (material expressions) frame and create new relations between society and state, market and nature. The ultimate aim of the research is to contribute to the current debate in Latin America about social change in rural areas, by exploring the linkages between rural development strategies and the construction of new geographies, new territories.

The thesis have sought to answer the following research questions: What narratives and discourses on development are currently disputing the territory in the province of Misiones? What kinds of territories are under construction as a result of “alternative development” strategies and practices implemented by different actors in the rural development arena in interaction with “conventional” development strategies? In what ways are the new territorial dynamics reflecting the construction of an alternative development(s) and new territories and geographies?

The evidence shows that actors in the rural development arena seek to put into practice agroecology, a kind of agriculture environmental and socially oriented, as a means to sustain agriculture and at the same time allow ‘rooting’ families to land. Agroecology is a territorial dynamic that intends to “fix people in space” by giving them the chance to live on agriculture or in the countryside and appropriate their territory. By creating new projects, new horizons of actions and thoughts and by being farmers and putting land under production, the family agriculture sector sustains and reproduces itself. However, if these projects do not bring in the middle and long term wellbeing to people, rooting farmers to land will be assisting subsistence agriculture and the reproduction of cheap labour force for the agroindustrial companies with economic interests in Misiones. Particularly, in the case of tobacco, since there seems to be currently few alternatives to this crop that could provide stable monetary incomes to families. For families to be rooted instead of moving to towns and cities or in search of new lands, or providing cheap labour to companies while eking out a living from subsistence agriculture, discourses and practices must contribute to the creation of material possibilities and bring about in the long term structural changes: legal access to land, fair participation in markets, strong participation in policy making, etc.

Interventions in ecological agriculture are not just an attack on what locally has been labelled as ‘conventional’ and ‘modern’ agriculture; they are at the same time constructing new opportunities, together and despite that kind of agriculture. What started once as a promotion and strengthening of subsistence agriculture, developed into a movement for another agriculture (una otra agricultura). In confronting and creating alternatives, the roles of the state, the market and nature were redefined and reappropriated by people.

This paper presents some preliminary empirical reflexions about rural development in North East A... more This paper presents some preliminary empirical reflexions about rural development in North East Argentina at the light of the recent socio-economic and political changes. The processes of decentralization that have taken place in the country during the decade of 1990 illustrate the complexity of rural development strategies at local level and the necessity to create policies to take into account the collective actions from below or to promote them in those territories where they do not exist. These kind of collective actions are considered by some authors to play an important role in processes of democratization.

In diverse countries of the continent, environmental transformations -and the injustices connecte... more In diverse countries of the continent, environmental transformations -and the injustices connected- have traditionally been studied in the case of extractive industries, such as mining, oil or agriculture. However, in the present study we want to discuss these concerns in the context of mega-projects that are commonly considered part of a “sustainable development”. Renewable, clean or green technology is not usually framed as ‘extractive’. We argue here that in some contexts large scale wind-parks might be working against sustainable development, when producing environmental injustices and generating social discontent and protest. We propose to use an environmental justice approach in order to understand why the Zapotecas and Huaves communities are opposing the wind energy park project, or ‘clean energy’. We aimed at exploring and discussing different ways in which eco-friendly projects or green energy investments result in (re)new environmental injustices. (Less)

Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Nardi, A. (2010). Territorial dynamics ... more Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Nardi, A. (2010). Territorial dynamics and agro-ecology. Food production and the construction of local markets in Misiones (Northeastern Argentina). Paper presented at 5th Nordic Latin American Research Network (NOLAN) Conference "Society, Culture and Nature in Latin America. New Political Tendencies", Denmark.

El Desarrollo Y Sus Logicas En Disputa En Territorios Del Norte Argentino, 2010

Xi Seminario Internacional De La Rii, 2010

Latin America attends currently to the construction of a paradigm of rural development based on t... more Latin America attends currently to the construction of a paradigm of rural development based on the potentiality of the territory to encourage processes of rural wellbeing. Some international studies relating rural development to territory from an institutional perspective have recently come out, greatly contributing to the construction of a territorially based rural development in the region. The paradigm is mainly centred in a monetary approach, stressing the need to increase incomes at local level through new agricultural or non-agricultural production and/or increases in productivity as well as through education for migrating to urban areas. Development policies and projects that promote social and institutional transformation have to deal with the confrontation of those who oppose changing the status quo, particularly the local elites, and the resistance of those communities that consider that their identities may be lost as a result of that transformation. Therefore, a critical approach to territory (understood as an arena where different local and non local actors try to realize their projects) should be build up in order to comprehend the process generating rural poverty and development. The purpose of this paper is to present the main ideas and concepts of an analytical framework under construction that may allow us to understand rural development from a critical territorial approach. The hypothesis is that social mobilization of local actors is a main issue when approaching and promoting development in poor rural regions of Latin American countries, especially the organization of peasants and farmers as they constitute the majority of the inhabitants and are largely excluded from the socioeconomic and political system. 1 This paper is part of my doctorate thesis project conducted from 2006 and as a proposal these ideas may need further exploration. I will be very much grateful for receiving comments, critics and opinions.

Más allá de la inserción a los mercados globales. Otras opciones de desarrollo a través de la art... more Más allá de la inserción a los mercados globales. Otras opciones de desarrollo a través de la articulación entre actores locales en tres territorios rurales del norte de Argentina. 74-96. Paper presented at X International Seminar of the Network of Iberoamerican Researcher's on Globalization and Territory,. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ?

… De Estudios Urbano …, 2009

The strategies of development in rural territories in the provinces of Jujuy, Misiones and Salta ... more The strategies of development in rural territories in the provinces of Jujuy, Misiones and Salta in Argentina provide the objects of study in this analysis. These three cases reveal that there has been a process of consolidation of grass-roots organization since 1990, which seems ...

NGO: Nongovernmental Organization 6 Chapter I-Introduction 12 Chapter I-Introduction markets (fer... more NGO: Nongovernmental Organization 6 Chapter I-Introduction 12 Chapter I-Introduction markets (ferias francas) taking into consideration the study in the selected municipalities. I focus on the actors involved, their discourse and practical strategies implemented, the collective social and political spaces constructed to promote and construct a different agriculture in Misiones and the conflicts in the process. Subsequently, in the concluding chapter VIII, I critically reflect on the construction of an "alternative" rural development model in Misiones and new territories. New actors, new interests and new possibilities are being created, which challenge dominant roles of the state, market and nature in development. These elements are signs of a gradual process towards a new, different kind of development in the province. However, how structural are these changes? How alternative is the alternative rural development? I also comment here upon the importance of the study in terms of theory generation and policy making. Finally, I propose some topics and research questions for further studies. Local markets are defined here as the commercialization side of this kind of agriculture, spaces where rural families detain greater autonomy and participation and where the logics of profit maximisation are not the only ones that predominate but also urban-rural solidarity, farmer-consumers interactions, actors cooperation, environmental care, social justice and fair price, etc. There may be other spheres of commercialization (e.g. a central provincial market for food gathering) that even not local, they function with these similar logics. bread" (squatter farmer, San Pedro, 2009). In the following chapters, the analysis of discourses, practices, conflicts and cooperation among those actors intervening in family agriculture is undertaken.

Scripta Nova Revista Electronica De Geografia Y Ciencias Sociales, 2010

gener, 2010

Pasados 50 años de la Alianza para el Progreso las políticas de planificación territorial fracasa... more Pasados 50 años de la Alianza para el Progreso las políticas de planificación territorial fracasaron en América Latina. El BM y el BID, instrumentos de la política exterior estadounidense para su hegemonía mundial y regional, son sus principales fuentes financieras y doctrinarias y ...

In this paper we call into question the relationship between development, inequality and territor... more In this paper we call into question the relationship between development, inequality and territory in the current context of globalization and within the framework of public policies designed, supposedly, to benefit those social actors with fewer resources.

In order to do this, we focus on a case study in the northeast of the province of Misiones, Argentina. Here tobacco production, forestry and alternative family farming (AF) (dedicated to food production) are in dispute over the territory, leading to conflict over private land occupation.

The analysis evidences: (a) The territorial changes resulting from globalization processes in local areas. (b) The ways in which these changes affect and limit the development proposals arising from public policy aimed at alleviating social inequality. To
advance in the understanding of these processes we need to: (a) Recognize the different views and methods that account for social, economic, political and institutional inequality, both from the perspective of the actors and in its material expression in the territory. (b) Identify the power relationships in the area (particularly in relation to the dispute over the use and appropriation of land). And (c) examine the various and contradictory models and development proposals that express these relationships.

The study is based on a qualitative methodology focused on a case study and centered in interviews conducted during 2008 and 2009 to the main actors involved in the conflict over land in the northeast area of the province of Misiones, Argentina.

The study shows the contradictions of public policy that proclaim productive growth and development in a legal framework for liberalization and deregulation in favor of large-scale transnational investment, underpinned by large-scale productive activities, highly demanding of land and water. Such investments, by contrast, have an insubstantial labor requirement.

This conception of development implicit in the economic growth proposal by those sectors that hegemonize economic power, social inequality is displayed as a "negative externality" that must somehow be contained,assisted; ignoring or hiding the fact that only structural changes can overcome those inequalities. In short,
this is a conceptual, ideological and pragmatic framework which implies a non-viable context for family farming.

In turn, small-scale farmers and rural workers who manage to achieve a greater understanding of these processes are challenging the dominant development model, as well as the strategic alliances that the state maintains with those powerful sectors. And from this perspective, they struggle to play a role in development by producing food, from and for their place and/or province.

Scripta Nova. Revista …, Jan 1, 2010

After 50 years the Alliance for Progress was launched, the policies for territorial planning in L... more After 50 years the Alliance for Progress was launched, the policies for territorial planning in Latin America have proved to fail. The WB and the IADB, instruments of the US international politics for the consolidation of its global and regional hegemony, are its main financial and doctrinaire sources. These agencies’ logics prevail in the general and territorial planning. In the aftermath of the structural adjustments programs, with the doctrine of global governance the WB and the IADB seek to extend social capitalist relations, encouraging (semi)periferic bourgeouisies to speed up their competitive integration into the world market. The RIISA and the Puebla Panamá Plan are the territorial core of the project: they shape new export-extractive geographies legitimized with urban environmental infrastructures and a discourse on transparency simultaneously with an increasing repression.

Th e strategies of development in rural territories in the provinces of Jujuy, Misiones and Salta... more Th e strategies of development in rural territories in the provinces of Jujuy, Misiones and Salta in Argentina provide the objects of study in this analysis. Th ese three cases reveal that there has been a process of consolidation of grass-roots organization since 1990, which seems to have strengthened the historically marginalized sectors of the population. New kinds of relationships
between the state and civil society have also appeared, leading to rural development institutions which are actively involved with poor rural families. For the analysis of these processes the following premises are generated: a) territory expresses social and spatial relations of power; b) rural development must imply greater autonomy for the benefi ciary population in the processes of public and private decision-making and management. Only in this way it is possible for development to lead to a new territoriality (a change in spatially bounded power relations). Th e article is organized by initially presenting the objectives and the cases, followed by a presentation of the theoretical framework relating to development, territory and power, a characterization of the analyzed experiences, and fi nally some comparative reflections

EURE (Santiago), Jan 1, 2009

Elobjeto de este estudio es el Programa Social Agropecuario (PSA) y su interacción con diferentes... more Elobjeto de este estudio es el Programa Social Agropecuario (PSA) y su interacción con diferentes actores locales en la conformación de las ferias francas en la provincia de Misiones. Estos espacios de comercialización de la pequeña producción agropecuaria comenzaron a organizarse a partir de 1995 y contaron con la participación no sólo del PSA, sino también del gobierno provincial, de las municipalidades y de varias organizaciones existentes en la provincia, como el Movimiento Agrario Misionero, el Instituto de Desarrollo Social y Promoción Humana, la Pastoral Social, el Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Cáritas y la Red de Agricultura Orgánica de Misiones, entre otras. El tejido institucional resultante de este complejo proceso de vinculación y articulación estaría permitiendo que las acciones realizadas en desarrollo rural en la provincia de Misiones generen una dinámica territorial particular que podría estar contribuyendo a un desarrollo local más participativo.

The concept of proximity has its origins at the beginning of the years ’90 in France with the stu... more The concept of proximity has its origins at the beginning of the years ’90 in France with the studies from the Group of the Dynamics of the Proximity. The importance of the territorial proximity for the development is considered basically through studies centred in the analysis of industrial dynamic and innovative environments. Its relationship with the local development in poor rural areas has been almost not considered. This work attempts to advance in the understanding of the local rural development from a perspective centred in the relationships of proximity focusing in the process of conformation of first local farmers’ fairs in Misiones, North-eastern Argentina.

Trabajo presentado en el IV Coloquio sobre …, Jan 1, 2002

El siguiente trabajo es el avance de una investigación sobre desarrollo rural y local desde una p... more El siguiente trabajo es el avance de una investigación sobre desarrollo rural y local desde una perspectiva institucional. La articulación de distintos actores, confluyendo en una estrategia de acción conjunta genera particularidades institucionales que dan origen a dinámicas territoriales. Esto podría contribuir al desarrollo de los ámbitos locales en los que se generan y para ello, la participación de la población en la organización, gestión y ejecución de proyectos de desarrollo rural tiene un rol central. Nuestro objeto de estudio es el Programa Social Agropecuario 1 y su interacción con diferentes actores locales en la conformación de espacios de comercialización de la pequeña producción agropecuaria en la provincia de Misiones-noreste argentino-. Este programa lleva a cabo acciones en materia de organización y capacitación para la gestión de estos emprendimientos innovativos. Las ferias francas misioneras comenzaron a organizarse a partir de 1995 y contaron con la participación del PSA, el gobierno provincial, los municipales y varias organizaciones existentes en la provincia, como el Movimiento Agrario Misionero, el

Esta publicación cuenta con el apoyo financiero …

El presente capítulo busca describir, analizar y reflexionar acerca de las dinámicas territoriale... more El presente capítulo busca describir, analizar y reflexionar acerca de las dinámicas territoriales que se generan como consecuencia de la promoción de la agroecología o desarrollo rural alternativo en la provincia de Misiones. En particular, el interés focaliza en los discursos y prácticas acerca de la producción de alimentos y los mercados locales, cuestiones estas que intentan sostener la producción agropecuaria y la reproducción de las familias en el medio rural. ¿Qué tipo de dinámicas territoriales son generadas por estas nuevas ideas y prácticas de producción agrícola, cuidado medioambiental y agricultura familiar?