ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces, opens up, and operationalizes four key questions for the study of existences. The agroextractivist expansion in northern Mato Grosso, by deforesting the Cerrado and Amazon forests, is used as an example to illustrate how the four key questions should be applied. These questions utilize multiple viewpoints to direct more attention toward existences. Soybean expansion is explored in detail through the example of Nova Mutum. What used to be in the region is compared to what is now in the region. This chapter suggests several ways that existential politics and power relations could and should be integrated into political-economic analysis. The four key questions are: (1) Who or what exists? (2) How they can exist (what is the quality of existence)? (3) In which time and/or how long can they exist? (4) Who are the key entities deciding and contesting the rights to exist?
