Territorializar el capital desterritorializando lo rural. Consecuencias territoriales asociados a los cambios en el uso del suelo del Valle Antinaco Los Colorados, La Rioja, Argentina

Abstract

In Haesbaert's (2004)view there is no way to define the individual, the group, the community, the society, outside the geographic-territorial context that contains them. The subjects produce their own territories, in such a way that their modification opens up an uncertain path in which the processes of dispossession, alienation of the place and destruction of the territorialities life-sustaining converge, coordinate with and feed back on each other. The stories of some farmers in Vichigasta, La Rioja, Argentina, show with great clarity, how these dynamics affect their social reproduction. They express profound helplessness in the face of the impossibility to slow down the expansion of business activities that have a different logic from that of the peasantry, and thus far have not been able to achieve results in their struggles in accordance with their expectations. The creation of a natural reserve appears as a possibility of safeguard and barrier against the expansive advance of capital. A renewed way, although not free from contradictions, of valuing the natural heritage as a provider of ecological services and goods, and even emerges as a space to contribute to land management by and for the Vichigasta community. The present work advances with agricultural growth trends analysis in the last 30 years in the area and describes the tensions generated as a consequence. It then analyzes the deterritorialization processes under way and recovers farmers’ views regarding current territorial trends.