Agricultural extractivisms in times of pandemic: flexibilities, asymmetries, authoritarianisms and other spill-over effects

Abstract

In the context of the Covid19 pandemic, the governments of South America have maintained agricultural extractivisms (agricultural, livestock and forestry). In some cases, they are presented as a solution to the drop in oil and mineral extractivism. In other cases, changes occur between different agricultural products. This strategy implies the persistence of social and environmental impacts, and accentuates the asymmetries between business actors and small farmers or peasants. Despite the fact that in the crisis caused by the pandemic it allowed to promote agriculture as a supplier of food to attack the nutritional component among the poorest sectors, the position of conceiving it as a supplier of export goods persisted, accentuating extractivism. The spill-over effects were maintained and in some cases deepened, such as social, labor and environmental flexibilities, and public policies that support and shield extractivism were strengthened.