Eutopía, Revista de Desarrollo y Territorio

Globalization, its development and contemporary crisis

Alessandro Bonanno — 2025-07-04

Globalization is a historical process driven by the expansion of capitalist markets. It is characterized by periods of fast growing and integration, followed by intervals of protectionist and nationalist policies that delay further market integration.
The current era, which began in the mid-2010s, exemplifies such a historical period. During the post-World War II Fordist period, national governments significantly intervened to mediate between the interests of capital and labor. This intervention
facilitated the expansion of labor rights and well-being while also contributing to the growth of large corporations. Under Fordism, labor unions gained strength, and pro-labor legislation was enhanced, however, the oil crisis of the 1970s and the resulting global stagflation precipitated the decline of Fordism. It was subsequently replaced by a neoliberal regime that promoted globalization. During this period, pro-labor legislation was reduced or eliminated, and corporations were able to reduce costs by relocating production to less expensive and politically compliant domestic and international locations. Between 1975 and 2020, economic inequality increased significantly, with a notable concentration of wealth among specific social classes and countries. Initial opposition to neoliberal globalization came from left-leaning groups who criticized its anti-labor and anti-environment policies. By the mid-2010s, new populist movements emerged, opposing globalization on
nationalist and authoritarian platforms. These movements support large corporations and the wealthy, while only nominally addressing labor concerns. Their attacks on democratic principles, citizens’ rights, and the rule of law, coupled with policies that deteriorate the conditions of the middle and working classes, create a pathway to authoritarianism that exacerbates rather than resolves the contradictions of contemporary capitalism.

Capitalist development, globalization, and the agrarian question in the 21st century

Germán Rosati — 2025-07-04

The issue of capitalist development in agriculture and its various forms has been central in the social sciences. Traditionally, the theoretical focus was on the ways in which capital penetrated agriculture and the roles played by the peasantry and large landowners. Since the mid-1970s, the deepening of capitalist development, globalization, and economic liberalization have profoundly transformed agricultural production on a global scale. This article is organized around two questions: How should we think about the agrarian question today? To what extent can it still be confined to the “peasant problem” and/or the question of the survival of small-scale production? The aim is to characterize the agricultural sector and the labor force employed in it in order to contribute to the conceptualization of the agrarian question in the 21st century. The hypothesis
is that the creation of a surplus population for capital (relative surplus population) offers a more fruitful path for rethinking the so-called agrarian question than the question of whether or not the peasantry persists. The research is quantitative in nature and uses secondary data mainly from international organizations such as the FAO and the ILO, to characterize both countries worldwide in terms of capitalist development and the workers employed in the agricultural sector.

Multisystemic crisis and the exhaustion of the globalizing model: impact on artisanal fishing in Nayarit, México

Patricia Elena Giraldo Calderón — 2025-07-04

This article analyzes the implications, transformations, and future prospects of artisanal fishing on the coast of Nayarit, Mexico, considering globalization as a political, economic, and ideological framework. Through a case study of its artisanal fishers, the research examines the evolution of this activity across three periods: national expansion and the cooperative export model (1938-1981); the global market, financialization, and economic liberalization (1982-2016); and the exhaustion of globalization due to multisystemic crises (2017-2025). The analysis reveals a trajectory initially marked by the success of the cooperative model, followed by a crisis with negative environmental, economic, political, and social impacts on the fishers. The decline of globalization, evidenced by the deepening of inequalities, trade protectionism, and productive fragmentation, poses significant challenges for the future of artisanal fishing in the region, despite the
previous development achieved through cooperative organization.

Structural development of international trade between Colombia and Ecuador; agroindustrial and food growth and diversification potential

Francisco Javier Dorado Urbano — 2025-07-04

This study examines the recent structural dynamics of foreign trade between Colombia and Ecuador, utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods grounded in data spanning the last 33 years. It assesses shifts in trade structure and evaluates indicators of export potential and diversification through the Product Space methodology. This analysis is framed within the context of the ongoing reconfiguration of global economic and trade processes. The findings indicate a steady increase in
bilateral trade, revealing differing circumstances for Colombia, which maintains consistent surpluses, in contrast to Ecuador’s situation. The analysis underscores the limited structural transformation in the export supply of both nations, which remains
primarily focused on products from the primary sector, agroindustry, and basic industry. The Export Growth and Diversification Indicators demonstrate significant potential in agro-industrial products, as well as in agricultural sectors like grains and various manufacturing industries, encompassing food products, electronic devices, and minerals. These sectors are vital for enhancing and expanding intraregional trade, promoting commercial diversification, and adding value to key products.

Agroecology as a counter-narrative to food globalization: family gardens in their genesis and future

Marlon Julio Vergara Monterroza — 2025-07-04

Family gardens constitute a central pillar in agroecology’s counter-narrative to food globalization. This article explores their genesis as historical spaces of biocultural resistance and their future role in building resilient and equitable food systems. We analyze how these gardens have been crucial for preserving agrobiodiversity and traditional ecological knowledge, challenging industrial homogenization and commodity dependence. Through documentary
review, we examine their current role in food autonomy and the socio-ecological resilience of communities facing global crises. The study also highlights their potential for economic reconfiguration through alternative marketing
circuits and community self-management models. Results emphasize that family gardens serve as essential laboratories for innovation and adaptation in a global agroecological transition that redefines food production and consumption. In conclusion, these gardens represent a viable and necessary strategy for a more sustainable and equitable food future.

Peasant territories in resistance: the agroecological farm experience of Asopasquillita, Colombia

Nasly Tatiana García Briñez — 2025-07-04

Territorial defense has become a central strategy for rural communities in Colombia in response to historical pressures that reshape their social, economic, cultural, and environmental dynamics. This article examines the territorial resistance practices promoted by the Association of Peasants for Sustainable Development of the Pasquillita village (Asopasquillita), located in the rural area of Bogotá, in the face of urban expansion, exclusionary rural development policies, and the increasing precariousness of peasant life. Drawing on a qualitative and ethnographic methodology—based on in-depth interviews, participant observation, and analysis of both community and official documents—this study analyzes how Asopasquillita articulates
strategies of re-existence that integrate associativity, rural education, agroecology, environmental stewardship, and dynamics of gender and identity. It argues that these practices enable a contestation of dominant development logics, while also shaping alternative ways of inhabiting and sustaining life from a Food Sovereignty perspective. This study contributes to current debates on contemporary ruralities as contested spaces, where collective subjects emerge to construct meanings, knowledge,
and practices aimed at fostering more autonomous, sustainable, and territorially rooted ways of life, within a context of increasing tensions generated by globalization.