Appropriation by Coloniality

315 Pages·2012·3.01 MB·English

by  Simon Lindgren

Appropriation by Coloniality
TNCs, Land, Hegemony and Resistance
The Case of Botnia/UPM in Uruguay

Adrián Groglopo
Department of Sociology
Umeå University 2012
This work is protected by the Swedish Copyright Legislation Act (1960:729)
© Adrián Groglopo
ISBN: 978-91-7459-530-7
ISSN: 1104-2508
Printed by Print & Media, Umeå, Sweden, 2012
Cover photo by the author
For my children

Micaela, Lucas and Nicolas

Acknowledgements

Finally the moment of writing my acknowledgements! Although I would like to
begin with “It has been a journey…”, more than a journey it was a time of
struggle. And for me it has also been a rich process of learning. It was a struggle
not only to go through and understand theories and empirical data but, even
more so, the power of social processes and the differences in people’s
understandings. This goes not only for the things I found in the fieldwork, but
also for the very making and writing of this thesis. In this struggle I had very
good companions that have supported me spiritually, theoretically and
institutionally.

First of all I want to give my most sincere thanks and appreciation to all the
respondents and the people who contributed to the study during my fieldwork
in Uruguay and Argentina. Thank you so much for taking your time to talk,
showing me places, giving me tips and having coffee with me in order to make
me understand.

I’m truly indebted and thankful to my two supervisors Aina Tollefsen and
Simon Lindgren. To Aina Tollefsen for her invaluable knowledge that has
guided me in my writing, and also for her support during the whole process of
this struggle. To Simon Lindgren for his incredible knowledge and patience to
structure me in the worst and best moments of this process, and for his ability
to negotiate. Thank you both so much for your abilities, presence and loyalty in
this struggle.

My most sincere and special thanks to Nora Räthzel, because this dissertation
would not have been possible without her. Thank you for giving me this
opportunity during the whole process!

I would also like to warmly thank Irene Molina and Diana Mulinari for their
intellectual activism and support during the whole struggle of writing, thinking
and living in Sweden. Thank you so much for making me think and for being
there.

Two persons at the Department of Sociology in Umeå have been extremely
helpful: Daniel Larsson and Per Wisselgren. Thank you so much for your
critical readings and comments of my texts. You have helped me a lot.

My special thanks goes to my uncle Maximo Garcia Reyes in Buenos Aires for
his guidance and contacts during the fieldwork. Juan Bortheiry, Ana Rodríguez
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and Leda Chopitea Gilardoni really helped me out in Montevideo. Thank you so
much.

My warmest thanks to Sara Bonfanti for being there to listen to my crazy
theories. You are the best flatmate ever! To Suzanna Bondesson for her
patience and care during many years. To Hjördis Myhr and Jukka Leinikka for
their invaluable hospitality and their warm spirit. Without their warm
teachings in the art of Tango I would not have been able to write this
dissertation. Thanks also to Eva Arvidsson for being there to grow together in
this art.

Sincerely thanks to all my friends that have understood my absence and still
continued to invite me to meetings and parties. I’m very thankful to Lena
Sawyer for her friendship and support during this process. To Jorge Martorell,
for his analytical support and friendship through our diasporial years. To my
brother of life, Pablo Basualdo, for the long talks and deepest analysis about
and during life. I’m proud to have you as my friend in this life-journey.

My love goes to my distant family: my mother Susana Garcia Reyes and my
brother Andres Moscovich for being a source of strength, support and
encouragement since my childhood. Mom you taught me to fight in life. Thank
you so much!

To the memory of my grand mother Elda Maria Martino who taught me to live,
to be present and to have faith.

And to my loves, my children Micaela, Lucas and Nicolas, for having the
patience and understanding to have me as your father. This book is for you.
Although this time it does not begin with: Mitt inne i djungeln, under det
högsta trädet, brukade Leopold ligga och drömma...
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Contents
Acknowledgements ............................................................. i
Contents ............................................................................ iii
I. FRAMEWORK ............................................................. 1
1. Introduction ..................................................................... 3
Aims and research questions ......................................................................... 3
Background to the case .................................................................................. 5
Disposition of the thesis .............................................................................. 13
2. Theoretical framework .................................................. 15
Coloniality of power ...................................................................................... 15
Absolute, relative, and relational space ...................................................... 19
Uneven geographical development of capitalism ....................................... 23
The web of socio-ecological life ............................................................................................. 23
Accumulation by dispossession ............................................................................................. 25
Dependency theory ...................................................................................... 30
Dependency and development .............................................................................................. 32
Development of underdevelopment ...................................................................................... 34
Internal colonialism ..................................................................................... 35
Theoretical synthesis ................................................................................... 38
Accumulation by dispossession through coloniality of power ............................................. 39
Hegemony by (logics of) coloniality ...................................................................................... 45
3. Previous research .......................................................... 55
The role of TNCs in the world economy ...................................................... 55
TNC investments and natural resources in Latin America ......................... 60
TNCs and the “green” paradigm .................................................................. 63
The foreignisation of land ............................................................................ 68
The impacts of afforestation in Uruguay ..................................................... 74
Botnia/UPM and labour conditions ............................................................ 77
Research on foreign direct investments in other scientific fields ............... 80
4. Methodological considerations ..................................... 83
Methodological flexibility ............................................................................ 83
The position of the researcher ..................................................................... 85
Entering the field ......................................................................................... 87
Doing the field work .................................................................................... 91
The data material ......................................................................................... 96
Method of analysis ....................................................................................... 98
5. Botnia/UPM and the land question in Uruguay ............ 101
The background of capitalist expansion in Latin America ........................ 101
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The land question in Uruguay ................................................................... 109
Land distribution and the consolidation of classes ............................................................. 112
The new geophagous ............................................................................................................ 118
Legislative changes related to land, forestry, and investments ................ 123
The law of rural leasing ....................................................................................................... 123
The law of public limited companies (Sociedades Anonimas) ............................................ 125
Bilateral Investment Treaties ............................................................................................... 131
Free Trade Zones ................................................................................................................. 134
Forestry law .......................................................................................................................... 137
The expansion of the industry of pulp and paper ..................................... 143
The shift in industrial forestry from North to South ................................ 146
Pulp mills in the southern cone ................................................................. 149
The arrival of Botnia .................................................................................. 153
II. EMPIRICAL CASE STUDY ..................................... 159
6. Introducing the TNC in the region ............................... 161
A short history of Uruguay ......................................................................... 161
The local history of “El Anglo” .................................................................. 163
Introducing the TNC to the community .................................................... 165
Conclusion .................................................................................................. 171
7. Establishing the TNC in the local community ............... 173
The image of the TNC as a socially responsible actor ................................ 174
Conclusion: Silence and acceptance ........................................................... 179
8. Transforming the local economy ................................. 181
Changing conditions ................................................................................... 181
Creating hegemony .................................................................................... 184
Conclusion ................................................................................................. 188
9. Following the traces of colonial history ....................... 191
A history of being “the Other” .................................................................... 191
“We are accepting” ..................................................................................... 194
“We are the People” ................................................................................... 198
Conclusion ................................................................................................. 203
10. Consequences of the process of afforestation ............. 205
The socio-environmental impact of afforestation ..................................... 205
Demography, forestry workers, and the conditions of (un)employment . 214
Conclusion ................................................................................................. 219
11. The formation of resistance ........................................ 221
The mobilization ........................................................................................ 222
“Asembleistas”: a networked and non-hierarchical form of resistance ... 231
Conclusion ................................................................................................. 242
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III. CONCLUSIONS .................................................... 243
12. Results of the case study ............................................. 245
Making the TNC indispensible .................................................................. 245
Dominating the spaces of communication ................................................ 245
Controlling the narratives ......................................................................... 246
Contradictions of external and internal colonialism ................................ 247
Establishing and maintaining hegemony .................................................. 247
Knowledge and power ............................................................................... 249
13. Conceptual discussion ................................................ 255
Capitalism with colonial designs ............................................................... 255
Re-articulated models of dependency and new forms of domination ...... 257
Three hegemonic projects ................................................................................................... 258
Appropriation by coloniality ..................................................................... 261
Poniendo el cuerpo y/and telling another story ....................................... 263
14. Works cited ................................................................ 267
Literature ................................................................................................... 267
Reports and digital documents ................................................................. 279
Newspapers and magazines ....................................................................... 284

Argentinian Newspapers ..................................................................................................... 284

Uruguayan Newspapers ....................................................................................................... 284

Magazines ............................................................................................................................ 285
Lectures and digital material ..................................................................... 286
Web links ................................................................................................... 287

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