The dynamics of power and symbolic dimension in the agro-extractive conflict over Monsanto’s installation in the Argentine Malvinas

Abstract

In this paper, we are interested in analyzing the conflict between the neighbors of the Argentine Malvinas (Falklands) and the multinational Monsanto, in order to reflect on the dynamics of power that enable or deny access and decision-making on common goods and territories and on the symbolic dimension that is at stake and confronts agrarian extractivism in Argentina. We cannot reflect on these aspects without considering that the modern project implied the exercise of a biopower over nature and subalternized human bodies (Alimonda, 2011). Methodologically, we followed the interpretative paradigm and developed a qualitative research, employing in-depth interviews and sociological analysis of the discourse. We conclude this paper considering the achievements of the neighbors, but also highlighting the impossibility of consolidating in time as a social movement against the hegemony of the extractive system.