Autor/es
Descripción
ver mas
Colaborador
Starosta, Guido
Materias
Spatial Coverage
Temporal Coverage
1996-2013
Idioma
spa
Extent
330 p.
Derechos
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 2.0 Genérica (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Formato
application/pdf
Identificador
Cobertura
1001375
La Pampa (province)
1996-2013
Abstract
The kind of social subjects prevailing in agrarian production in the Pampas has been one of the most widely-researched topics within agrarian studies in Argentina. The reason for this lies in the peculiar social structure of this branch of production, which sets it markedly apart from the one usually prevailing in other productive sectors and in society at large. In effect, instead of a social structure simply consisting of ‘capitalists’ and ‘workers’, agrarian production comprises a large number of diverse social actors, which makes its own social structure highly heterogeneous. The aim of this investigation is thus to account for this heterogeneity and its historical potentialities.
In order to address this problematic, the research strategy adopted in this thesis draws on the insights found in the critique of political economy originally-developed by Karl Marx. According to this approach, the existence, behaviour and potentialities of the different social subjects prevailing in any branch of social production is determined by the part that each of them plays, qua personifications of commodities, in the capital accumulation process. As a consequence, this work focuses on the movement of commodities corresponding to the ‘character-masks’ found in agrarian production; specifically, capital and landed- property.
After developing those general foundations (chapter 1), the first part of this research monograph subsequently moves to a detailed analysis of the determinations of the movement of capital and landed-property. Regarding the former, the thesis presents the process of capital differentiation – specifically, that between normal and small capitals –, which emerges out of the formation of the general rate of profit (chapter 2). With respect to landed property, chapter 3 addresses its influence on the capital accumulation process and the features presented by the determination of the size of individually-owned plots of land. On this basis, and in opposition to widespread interpretations of the social structure of agrarian production (chapter 4), we analyse the nexus between agrarian capital and landed-property, focusing on the barriers to the accumulation of normal capitals that arise out of the peculiarities of the agrarian labour process. This allows us to conclude that the heterogeneity of the social structure of agrarian production is grounded in its colonisation by small capitals.
The second part of this thesis probes directly into the concrete forms assumed by the constitution of social subjects in agrarian production in the Pampas. In light of the approach guiding this research, the first step consists of an analysis of the specific features of the capital accumulation process in Argentina, which thus mediate the constitution of said social subjects (chapter 6). After critically reviewing the main existing interpretations of the nature of the social structure of agrarian production in the Pampas (chapter 7), the thesis examines the recent transformations of the agrarian labour process in the region. Those transformations, we further submit, lie at the basis of the changes in the social structure characterising this branch of social production (chapter 8). Lastly, and following on from the results of the prior discussion of the recent transformations of the agrarian labour process, we offer detailed case studies both of big ‘Sowing Pools’ and of so-called ‘Big Agricultural Enterprises’. Regarding the former, we offer a close analysis of ‘Sowing Pools’ constituted as Closed-end Mutual Investment Funds and as Financial Trusts. This is done on the basis of information provided by the National Securities Commission (chapter 9). Regarding ‘Big Agricultural Enterprises’, we develop an in-depth scrutiny of three particular companies which, we argue, are representative of the most distinctive features presented by firms in the sector as a whole. More specifically, we look into the cases of CRESUD, EL TEJAR and LOS GROBO (chapter 10).
The general conclusion that can be drawn from this investigation is that the heterogeneity that characterises agrarian production in the Pampas is explained by the absence of normal capitals in this branch of production. In turn, this stems from the resilience of existing barriers to the accumulation of normal capitals derived from the peculiar materiality of the agrarian labour process.
In order to address this problematic, the research strategy adopted in this thesis draws on the insights found in the critique of political economy originally-developed by Karl Marx. According to this approach, the existence, behaviour and potentialities of the different social subjects prevailing in any branch of social production is determined by the part that each of them plays, qua personifications of commodities, in the capital accumulation process. As a consequence, this work focuses on the movement of commodities corresponding to the ‘character-masks’ found in agrarian production; specifically, capital and landed- property.
After developing those general foundations (chapter 1), the first part of this research monograph subsequently moves to a detailed analysis of the determinations of the movement of capital and landed-property. Regarding the former, the thesis presents the process of capital differentiation – specifically, that between normal and small capitals –, which emerges out of the formation of the general rate of profit (chapter 2). With respect to landed property, chapter 3 addresses its influence on the capital accumulation process and the features presented by the determination of the size of individually-owned plots of land. On this basis, and in opposition to widespread interpretations of the social structure of agrarian production (chapter 4), we analyse the nexus between agrarian capital and landed-property, focusing on the barriers to the accumulation of normal capitals that arise out of the peculiarities of the agrarian labour process. This allows us to conclude that the heterogeneity of the social structure of agrarian production is grounded in its colonisation by small capitals.
The second part of this thesis probes directly into the concrete forms assumed by the constitution of social subjects in agrarian production in the Pampas. In light of the approach guiding this research, the first step consists of an analysis of the specific features of the capital accumulation process in Argentina, which thus mediate the constitution of said social subjects (chapter 6). After critically reviewing the main existing interpretations of the nature of the social structure of agrarian production in the Pampas (chapter 7), the thesis examines the recent transformations of the agrarian labour process in the region. Those transformations, we further submit, lie at the basis of the changes in the social structure characterising this branch of social production (chapter 8). Lastly, and following on from the results of the prior discussion of the recent transformations of the agrarian labour process, we offer detailed case studies both of big ‘Sowing Pools’ and of so-called ‘Big Agricultural Enterprises’. Regarding the former, we offer a close analysis of ‘Sowing Pools’ constituted as Closed-end Mutual Investment Funds and as Financial Trusts. This is done on the basis of information provided by the National Securities Commission (chapter 9). Regarding ‘Big Agricultural Enterprises’, we develop an in-depth scrutiny of three particular companies which, we argue, are representative of the most distinctive features presented by firms in the sector as a whole. More specifically, we look into the cases of CRESUD, EL TEJAR and LOS GROBO (chapter 10).
The general conclusion that can be drawn from this investigation is that the heterogeneity that characterises agrarian production in the Pampas is explained by the absence of normal capitals in this branch of production. In turn, this stems from the resilience of existing barriers to the accumulation of normal capitals derived from the peculiar materiality of the agrarian labour process.
Título obtenido
Doctor de la Universidad de Buenos Aires en Ciencias Sociales
Institución otorgante
Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales