A tipping point for agricultural expansion? Technological changes and capital accumulation in Argentina's rural sector

Abstract

Drawing upon a case study located in central Argentina, we analyse in what ways technology is contributing to the accumulation of capital in a context where prevailing strategies resting on farm-scale extension are no longer effective. We identify two major technological phases that go along with changes in actors' strategies aiming at re-establishing expanded capital accumulation. These phases allow a better understanding of the mediating role of technology between capital accumulation and the appropriation of nature. In a context of increasing depletion of agro-ecological conditions, the call for a new wave of innovations can be seen as an attempt to restore that mediating role. As we suggest, this entails broader changes in multiple levels.