ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the extractivist dynamics of Bolivia’s agricultural model from the lens of agrarian political economy and ecology and challenges the claims put forth by both agribusiness representatives and the state. Rather than a form of industrial agricultural development which implies value-added processing, sectoral linkages, and employment generation, we argue that Bolivia’s soy complex is better characterized as a form of agrarian extractivism. Agrarian extractivism brings the extractivist character of so-called industrial agriculture to the forefront of our analysis, interrogating the socio-economic and socio-ecological implications of the agricultural model. The analysis presented in this chapter puts particular emphasis on scale (scale of extracted materials and/or scale of capital involved), control (over value chains and control grabbing) sectoral linkages (or lack thereof) and the extent to which the sector represents an extractive enclave. We contend that agrarian extractivism is both politically and analytically useful for understanding new dynamics of agrarian change and has the potential, as an injustice frame, to foster alliances among those marginalized, exploited and excluded by all forms of extractivism.
