Socio-environmental conflicts and land governance: a study of Chinese infrastructure investments in Argentina

Abstract

This article establishes a dialogue between the neo-Gramscian approach and Latin American Political Ecology by analyzing land governance – specifically attempts at land grabbing through Chinese infrastructure investments in Argentina. Building bridges between these two perspectives enables an application of Robert Cox’s framework to the study of socio-environmental conflicts inherent to land governance. The study of two land grabbing initiatives in Argentina, one that was suspended and one that continues with modifications, shows that social resistance can condition attempts at land control through investments and their execution. Consequently, the dialogue between these two theoretical perspectives not only revitalizes Cox’s thought but also highlights socio-environmental conflicts in environmental and nature governance processes as a new research direction for IPE.

Keywords:

• Socio-environmental conflicts
• land governance
• land grabbing
• social resistance
• chinese investments
• Argentina

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to the reviewers for their insightful and constructive suggestions. I would also like to thank to Randall Germain, Lena Rethel, Anastasia Ufimtseva, Christian Elliott, William D. O’Connell and Alice Chessé for their comments on an earlier version of this manuscript presented at the RIPE 30th Anniversary Special Feature Workshop. Finally, thanks to Marcelo Saguier, Maximiliano Vila Seoane and the participants of the research seminar at EPyG/UNSAM for their helpful feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 According to these authors, land governance involves the rules, processes and structures through which decisions are made about the use of and control over land.

2 In 1991, a decree eliminated the commercial, financial and technical regulations to agriculture. The increase in market power in agricultural production decisions, including prices and the provision of inputs, encouraged agribusiness advancement.

3 The Supreme Court of Justice’s ruling that ordered an EIA also designated the Federal Justice as the competent court for this case, as established by the National Constitution.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sol Mora

Sol Mora is a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Politics and Government-National University of San Martín (IIP/EPyG-UNSAM). She holds a PhD in Social Sciences (FLACSO-Argentina). Her research interests include China’s infrastructure projects in Argentina, land grabbing, food systems and socio-environmental conflicts.