Open Access“Look North”: Conspiracy and the Sojazacíon of Argentina
Author(s) -
Smith Geneva
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
student anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2330-7625
DOI - 10.1002/j.sda2.20160501.0001
Subject(s) - politics , boom , context (archaeology) , redistribution (election) , population , sovereignty , political science , political economy , development economics , economics , sociology , law , geography , engineering , demography , archaeology , environmental engineering
The scientific community now overwhelmingly agrees that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are safe. Yet vigorous public debate continues worldwide about the entry of GMOs into the environment and food chain. Unique to the Argentine context, however, is that expert and civic debates about GM soy have more to do the redistribution of export profits than with potential environmental or health risks. In this essay, I examine Argentina's GMO expert regulatory bodies and recent conspiracy theories as spaces where I would expect concerns to be voiced about the “dark side of the soy boom” (Lapegna 2013)—but are not. I argue that conspiracy theory involving GM soy's economic prospects reveal both a pervasive unease about the industry, and that GM soy more closely indexes economic anxieties than environmental or health concerns. I explore the production and circulation of knowledge about GM soy that led to its role in economic sovereignty. I develop the idea that conspiracy centers on Argentines' deepest concerns and ask whether the GM soy industry is seen more as an obstacle to redistributive politics than as a threat to the health of the Argentine population.