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The post 2008 Chilean Salmon industry: an example of an enclave economy
Author(s) -
BustosGallardo Beatriz
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the geographical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.071
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1475-4959
pISSN - 0016-7398
DOI - 10.1111/geoj.12204
Subject(s) - economy , economic geography , perspective (graphical) , politics , production (economics) , geography , political science , economics , artificial intelligence , computer science , law , macroeconomics
The salmon industry in Chile experienced large and rapid growth over the past three decades and by 2008 Chile was the second largest producer of salmon in the world after Norway. However, the industry was affected by a sanitary crisis that impacted on its growth and forced a change in production strategies. This paper argues that the post‐crisis scenario shows the deepening of an enclave economy in Los Lagos region that is changing the way in which the industry participates in rural development. Starting with a literature review on enclave and extractive economies I characterise the salmon industry as an enclave, and then examine evidence from the field to identify local effects in rural communities of this new form of relationship. I conclude by calling for a revitalisation of the geographical debates on enclave economies from a political ecology perspective to better understand communities’ interaction with extractive economies.