Embedded Promissory Futures: The Rise of Networked Agribusiness in Argentina’s Bioeconomy

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Bioeconomies

Abstract

The chapter offers a much-needed sociotechnical analysis of the bioeconomy as a concept and a political project in Argentina. Focusing on the case study of genetically modified (GM) soy, Delvenne shows that the bioeconomy is at the center of intense struggles to re-think agriculture as-we-knew-it, and to re-name it as “agro-industry ”. The chapter explores these developments as evidence of an attempt to reject the idea of agriculture as the reactionary stronghold of a backward bourgeoisie and instead embrace agriculture as generative of an industrial avant-garde that promises political-economic transcendence. The chapter closes with an investigation of new forms of ‘networked agribusiness ’ that constitute the habitat of today’s bioeconomy in Argentina .

“The bioeconomy is one of the things that in principle everyone agrees on.” (Personal interview with a public official from the Science , Technology and Productive Innovation Ministry)

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Delvenne, P. (2017). Embedded Promissory Futures: The Rise of Networked Agribusiness in Argentina’s Bioeconomy. In: Pavone, V., Goven, J. (eds) Bioeconomies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55651-2_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55651-2_10

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

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