Abstract
Resumo: O artigo trata das implicações socioambientais e econômicas da expansão da produção de soja brasileira, durante o período entre 2000 e 2012. A perspectiva de análise de sistema mundo de Terence Hopkins e Immanuel Wallerstein (1982) é aplicada para avaliar em qual medida este desenvolvimento pode ser entendido como sendo característico do processo econômico de formação de periferia. Este arcabouço teórico é combinado com contribuições contemporâneas na literatura de Análise de Sistema Mundo que enfatizam assuntos ambientais e a natureza particular do agronegócio moderno, com a finalidade de entender as complexidades do atual setor de soja brasileiro. As dinâmicas de expansão produtiva e as suas diferentes implicações na sociedade são abordadas por meio de uma análise de cadeia de commodity da produção brasileira de soja. Uma estratégia de triangulação de dados é aplicada na análise, por meio de exame de documentos oficiais, pesquisas, entrevistas e material estatístico. O artigo conclui que enquanto algumas circunstâncias divergem das interpretações da perspectiva de Análise de Sistema Mundo, outros achados sugerem uma convergência entre a recente expansão da soja brasileira e as conceitualizações deste corpo teórico sobre periferia. A análise também aponta para a necessidade de reconsiderar o determinismo estrutural da perspectiva de Análise de Sistema Mundo, particularmente com relação ao possível potencial de agência política para confrontar os desafios associados com o desenvolvimento baseado em commodities.
Highlights
The goal in the following article is to evaluate how the expansion of soy production within Brazil in the beginning of the 21st century may be associated with processes characteristic of the notion of ‘periphery’, as conceptualized within the World Systems Analysis perspective
The notion of periphery is treated in the work of Terence Hopkins and Immanuel Wallerstein (1982), within which it is presented as internally constituted by four essential periphery conditions, related to the processes of incorporation, concentration of production processes, conversion of labor power and simple reproduction
In order to understand the contemporary dynamics of soy expansion within Brazil, these classical World Systems Analysis perspectives have been coupled with some more recent conceptualizations within this body of theory that treat the role of modern agriculture within the world economy
Summary
The goal in the following article is to evaluate how the expansion of soy production within Brazil in the beginning of the 21st century may be associated with processes characteristic of the notion of ‘periphery’, as conceptualized within the World Systems Analysis perspective. The paper’s methodological approach is based on a Global Commodity Chain analysis, which is applied in order to examine the consequences of soy expansion at the length of the soy chain This method is relied upon in order to evaluate the diverse environmental, social and economic implications of this development, through a specific focus on the productive and distributional structure for soy within Brazil. The article concludes by identifying the emergence of some significant features of periphery conditions related to the Brazilian soy expansion, when the incorporation of environmental recourses are considered This becomes apparent through the lens of more recent contributions to the WSA framework, with focus on ecologically unequal exchange, food sovereignty, and corporate agriculture, which reveals a series of complex socioeconomic and environmental ramifications of the Brazilian soy boom. The article thereby points to the need to rethink the notion of periphery in relation to modern agro-industrial development, and to adjust the structuralist approach to more closely engage with issues related to the particularities of modern commodity-based development
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