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The Expansion of Industrial Tree Plantations and Dispossession in Brazil
Author(s) -
Kröger Markus
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
development and change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1467-7660
pISSN - 0012-155X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7660.2012.01787.x
Subject(s) - agrarian society , monoculture , capitalism , eucalyptus , phenomenon , agroforestry , business , economy , natural resource economics , economics , geography , agriculture , political science , ecology , politics , biology , physics , archaeology , quantum mechanics , law
The recent expansion of tree plantations is the most important agrarian change in many parts of Brazil. This article uses the results of extensive field research to analyse the different ways paper and pulp companies assure their land base for eucalyptus plantations. The mechanisms of land access have changed little over the decades, amounting to a process of primitive accumulation which seems to be controlled by the ways the pulp industry influences land markets and prices, the strength of any resistance, and particularly the government support enjoyed by industry. Many paper and steel companies, either directly or indirectly, are increasingly relying on eucalyptus plantations, with negative impacts in many places. The expansion of tree monocultures with rural exclusion is characteristic of the wider phenomenon of land grab which is driven by the dominating financial logic of current capitalism.