Hydrocarbons and agriculture in the Comahue (Patagonia, Argentina). Power relations and territorial transformations

Abstract

In the Comahue region (Argentine Patagonia), the oil and gas sector as well as the agricultural one are relevant, in terms of intensifying the use of natural and technological resources. While one exploits the subsoil and another cultivates the land, both develop infrastructures and participate in the conformation the region´s identity (socio-economic, political, environmental, landscape, etc.). National and foreign companies value local resources with globalized production criteria. Shared agreements make converge the interests of private actors, local governments and the State. They participate in the construction of power and their relations with local populations (employment, conflict management, etc.). Based on the compilation of empirical data and interviews conducted in 2016, the article questions the development model resulting from the positioning of globalized actors (large agricultural establishments, hydrocarbon concessions) in the region, for the large-scale exploitation of soil and subsoil materials. The negotiations that take place before social and environmental conflicts, in which the dialogue comes to be structured and leads to agreements, can entail processes of hybridization of public and private logics. Then a socio-economic and political co-construction of the territory can be established.