The dialectics of capital: learning from Gran Chaco

Autores
Ceddia, M. Graziano; Montani, Rodrigo; Mioni, Walter Fernando
Año de publicación
2022
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
The critical impact of humans on the biosphere has led scientists to coin the term Anthropocene. The global environmental changes associated with it are happening under the aegis of capitalism. A transition towards sustainability requires a critical scrutiny of capitalism. The social–ecological system (SES) approach conceptualises the relationship between the socio-economic subsystem and the biosphere. However, in its various operationalisations it either treats the former as a black box or it fails to capture dynamic aspects. We address these limits and develop a Dialectical Socio-Ecological System (D-SES) framework, which combines process ecology with historical materialism, to describe the emergence and persistence of capitalist dynamics. We draw on data collected through fieldwork and desk research and deploy our framework to study capital-intensive agriculture in the Chaco Salteño, an important agricultural frontier in South America, obtaining some general insights. We open up the socio-economic subsystem and break it down into a lower-level material/economic sphere and an upper-level cultural/institutional sphere. Capitalist dynamics emerge out of the peculiar relationships occurring both within and between these spheres. This configuration shows the typical signs of autocatalysis. It attracts resources and capital to expand itself (centripetality). It becomes more complex and organised over time, fine-tuning production modes, cultures, and institutions (directionality). It is subject to the laws of competition and profit maximisation, which emerge independently from the individual actors and processes making up the system (autonomy). Finally, it engenders frictions, reflecting class antagonism between the direct producers and the appropriators of wealth. These frictions can become leverage points for a system’s transformation.
EEA Salta
Fil: Ceddia, M. Graziano. University of Bern. Centre for Development and Environment; Suiza
Fil: Montani, Rodrigo. University of Bern. Centre for Development and Environment; Suiza
Fil: Montani, Rodrigo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba; Argentina
Fil: Montani, Rodrigo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba; Argentina
Fil: Mioni, Walter Fernando. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Salta; Argentina.
Fuente
Sustainability Science (Published: 20 August 2022)
Materia
Agricultura
Ecología
Sistemas Socioculturales
Medio Ambiente
Entorno Socioeconómico
Agriculture
Ecology
Sociocultural Systems
Environment
Socioeconomic Environment
Región Chaco Salteño
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Repositorio
INTA Digital (INTA)
Institución
Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria
OAI Identificador
oai:localhost:20.500.12123/13013
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spelling The dialectics of capital: learning from Gran ChacoCeddia, M. GrazianoMontani, RodrigoMioni, Walter FernandoAgriculturaEcologíaSistemas SocioculturalesMedio AmbienteEntorno SocioeconómicoAgricultureEcologySociocultural SystemsEnvironmentSocioeconomic EnvironmentRegión Chaco SalteñoThe critical impact of humans on the biosphere has led scientists to coin the term Anthropocene. The global environmental changes associated with it are happening under the aegis of capitalism. A transition towards sustainability requires a critical scrutiny of capitalism. The social–ecological system (SES) approach conceptualises the relationship between the socio-economic subsystem and the biosphere. However, in its various operationalisations it either treats the former as a black box or it fails to capture dynamic aspects. We address these limits and develop a Dialectical Socio-Ecological System (D-SES) framework, which combines process ecology with historical materialism, to describe the emergence and persistence of capitalist dynamics. We draw on data collected through fieldwork and desk research and deploy our framework to study capital-intensive agriculture in the Chaco Salteño, an important agricultural frontier in South America, obtaining some general insights. We open up the socio-economic subsystem and break it down into a lower-level material/economic sphere and an upper-level cultural/institutional sphere. Capitalist dynamics emerge out of the peculiar relationships occurring both within and between these spheres. This configuration shows the typical signs of autocatalysis. It attracts resources and capital to expand itself (centripetality). It becomes more complex and organised over time, fine-tuning production modes, cultures, and institutions (directionality). It is subject to the laws of competition and profit maximisation, which emerge independently from the individual actors and processes making up the system (autonomy). Finally, it engenders frictions, reflecting class antagonism between the direct producers and the appropriators of wealth. These frictions can become leverage points for a system’s transformation.EEA SaltaFil: Ceddia, M. Graziano. University of Bern. Centre for Development and Environment; SuizaFil: Montani, Rodrigo. University of Bern. Centre for Development and Environment; SuizaFil: Montani, Rodrigo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Montani, Rodrigo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Mioni, Walter Fernando. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Salta; Argentina.Springer2022-09-29T16:47:37Z2022-09-29T16:47:37Z2022-08info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/13013https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-022-01203-11862-40651862-4057https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-022-01203-1Sustainability Science (Published: 20 August 2022)reponame:INTA Digital (INTA)instname:Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuariaenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)2025-10-23T11:18:08Zoai:localhost:20.500.12123/13013instacron:INTAInstitucionalhttp://repositorio.inta.gob.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://repositorio.inta.gob.ar/oai/requesttripaldi.nicolas@inta.gob.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:l2025-10-23 11:18:08.413INTA Digital (INTA) - Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuariafalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv The dialectics of capital: learning from Gran Chaco
title The dialectics of capital: learning from Gran Chaco
spellingShingle The dialectics of capital: learning from Gran Chaco
Ceddia, M. Graziano
Agricultura
Ecología
Sistemas Socioculturales
Medio Ambiente
Entorno Socioeconómico
Agriculture
Ecology
Sociocultural Systems
Environment
Socioeconomic Environment
Región Chaco Salteño
title_short The dialectics of capital: learning from Gran Chaco
title_full The dialectics of capital: learning from Gran Chaco
title_fullStr The dialectics of capital: learning from Gran Chaco
title_full_unstemmed The dialectics of capital: learning from Gran Chaco
title_sort The dialectics of capital: learning from Gran Chaco
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Ceddia, M. Graziano
Montani, Rodrigo
Mioni, Walter Fernando
author Ceddia, M. Graziano
author_facet Ceddia, M. Graziano
Montani, Rodrigo
Mioni, Walter Fernando
author_role author
author2 Montani, Rodrigo
Mioni, Walter Fernando
author2_role author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Agricultura
Ecología
Sistemas Socioculturales
Medio Ambiente
Entorno Socioeconómico
Agriculture
Ecology
Sociocultural Systems
Environment
Socioeconomic Environment
Región Chaco Salteño
topic Agricultura
Ecología
Sistemas Socioculturales
Medio Ambiente
Entorno Socioeconómico
Agriculture
Ecology
Sociocultural Systems
Environment
Socioeconomic Environment
Región Chaco Salteño
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv The critical impact of humans on the biosphere has led scientists to coin the term Anthropocene. The global environmental changes associated with it are happening under the aegis of capitalism. A transition towards sustainability requires a critical scrutiny of capitalism. The social–ecological system (SES) approach conceptualises the relationship between the socio-economic subsystem and the biosphere. However, in its various operationalisations it either treats the former as a black box or it fails to capture dynamic aspects. We address these limits and develop a Dialectical Socio-Ecological System (D-SES) framework, which combines process ecology with historical materialism, to describe the emergence and persistence of capitalist dynamics. We draw on data collected through fieldwork and desk research and deploy our framework to study capital-intensive agriculture in the Chaco Salteño, an important agricultural frontier in South America, obtaining some general insights. We open up the socio-economic subsystem and break it down into a lower-level material/economic sphere and an upper-level cultural/institutional sphere. Capitalist dynamics emerge out of the peculiar relationships occurring both within and between these spheres. This configuration shows the typical signs of autocatalysis. It attracts resources and capital to expand itself (centripetality). It becomes more complex and organised over time, fine-tuning production modes, cultures, and institutions (directionality). It is subject to the laws of competition and profit maximisation, which emerge independently from the individual actors and processes making up the system (autonomy). Finally, it engenders frictions, reflecting class antagonism between the direct producers and the appropriators of wealth. These frictions can become leverage points for a system’s transformation.
EEA Salta
Fil: Ceddia, M. Graziano. University of Bern. Centre for Development and Environment; Suiza
Fil: Montani, Rodrigo. University of Bern. Centre for Development and Environment; Suiza
Fil: Montani, Rodrigo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba; Argentina
Fil: Montani, Rodrigo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba; Argentina
Fil: Mioni, Walter Fernando. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Salta; Argentina.
description The critical impact of humans on the biosphere has led scientists to coin the term Anthropocene. The global environmental changes associated with it are happening under the aegis of capitalism. A transition towards sustainability requires a critical scrutiny of capitalism. The social–ecological system (SES) approach conceptualises the relationship between the socio-economic subsystem and the biosphere. However, in its various operationalisations it either treats the former as a black box or it fails to capture dynamic aspects. We address these limits and develop a Dialectical Socio-Ecological System (D-SES) framework, which combines process ecology with historical materialism, to describe the emergence and persistence of capitalist dynamics. We draw on data collected through fieldwork and desk research and deploy our framework to study capital-intensive agriculture in the Chaco Salteño, an important agricultural frontier in South America, obtaining some general insights. We open up the socio-economic subsystem and break it down into a lower-level material/economic sphere and an upper-level cultural/institutional sphere. Capitalist dynamics emerge out of the peculiar relationships occurring both within and between these spheres. This configuration shows the typical signs of autocatalysis. It attracts resources and capital to expand itself (centripetality). It becomes more complex and organised over time, fine-tuning production modes, cultures, and institutions (directionality). It is subject to the laws of competition and profit maximisation, which emerge independently from the individual actors and processes making up the system (autonomy). Finally, it engenders frictions, reflecting class antagonism between the direct producers and the appropriators of wealth. These frictions can become leverage points for a system’s transformation.
publishDate 2022
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2022-09-29T16:47:37Z
2022-09-29T16:47:37Z
2022-08
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/13013
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-022-01203-1
1862-4065
1862-4057
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-022-01203-1
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/13013
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-022-01203-1
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-022-01203-1
identifier_str_mv 1862-4065
1862-4057
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Springer
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Springer
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Sustainability Science (Published: 20 August 2022)
reponame:INTA Digital (INTA)
instname:Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria
reponame_str INTA Digital (INTA)
collection INTA Digital (INTA)
instname_str Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria
repository.name.fl_str_mv INTA Digital (INTA) - Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria
repository.mail.fl_str_mv tripaldi.nicolas@inta.gob.ar
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