Development in Latin America : Toward a New Future

In Development in Latin America, Maristella Svampa explores the contemporary development and resistance dynamics of capitalist development - the workings (on people and societies) of the world capitalist system - in the context of Latin America, where these dynamics have had their most notable outcomes. She focuses on the phenomenon of “neoextractivism,” the combination of the global advance of resource-seeking extractive capital (foreign investments in the extraction of natural resources) and the commodities consensus (export of raw materials), among both neoliberal and progressive governments — analyzing their common elements as well as their differences. Svampa explores the complex dynamics of socio-environmental conflict associated with neoextractivism, as well as what she refers to as the “eco-territorial turn.” Svampa’s analysis includes both the ecological and gender dimensions of the global and regional capitalist development process. Maristella Svampa is an Argentine sociologist, writer and activist.

She is a researcher at Conicet (Argentine National Scientific and Technical Research Council) and a professor at the Universidad Nacional de la Plata (Buenos Aires Province).

She participates in the Permanent Alternative to Development Group in Latin America and coordinates several groups concerned with ecological themes in Argentina.

Maristella Svampa has written several books about political and social problems in Latin America.