Soybeans and Capitalist Transformation among Family Farmers in Argentina

Abstract

This article aims to explore the expansion of capitalism among Argentine farmers in a historical perspective in the light of view of the recent soy boom.

First it draws attention to the soy boom, focusing on the political-economic processes at national and international level that brought Argentina to its position as a GM soy superpower. Then, the focus moves to a farmer community in Northern Santa Fe province where the author has carried out longitudinal fieldwork, starting in the 1970s. She argues that the current transformation of the community, associated with the soy boom, is the culmination of a long process of capitalist development characterised by a gradual intensification of commodity relations.

The article discusses how conjunctural shifts and changing agrarian policies have historically shaped farmers’ aspirations and practices with regard to the meaning of household and family, labour, land rights and land use. Until the soy boom, their aspirations and practices were compatible with the reproduction of the family farm, albeit modifying this to adjust to new circumstances. The changes associated with the soy boom have led most farmers to abandon farming and rural life, while only a few have been able to make the passage to agribusiness. The article ends by exploring the reasons why.