Elements for an Evaluation of Transgenic Crops in Latin America: Ideas from a Marxist Ecology

Abstract

This article examines some features of transgenic technology in Latin American agriculture, in order to pose possible explanations for its historical and current expansion as a hegemonic praxis within regional agricultural systems. It offers a general evaluation of some of the socio-economic and ecological problems identified by different actors, regarding the implementation of this technology throughout the sub-continent based on two basic theoretical principles: 1) Marx´s concept of nature and his ecological insights within the context of 19th century European capitalist agriculture and 2) some Marxist ideas regarding the international division of labor.
The article´s main premise is that transgenic technologies belong to a global trend of agrarian capitalism based on a productive imperative that is intensive and extensive for natural renewable resources. It argues that problems arising from transgenic technologies need to be understood as a historical condition that denies the strong links between science and politics.