Silvia Gorenstein

Territorios agrarios y realidades rururbanas: Reflexiones sobre el desarrollo rural a partir del caso pampeano bonaerense

The debate on rural development has undergone a strong renewal due to transformations in agriculture, and in rural economies and societies. In this context, a broader vision of the rural medium has been observed, which includes rururban spaces where services and supply chains relating to local and regional production and consume are located. Of particular importance are non-agricultural occupations as additional income sources for rural homes. This paper explores these issues in the province of Buenos Aires –the main area of agricultural production in the pampeana region of Argentina-. Some of the features analyzed here are population trends and the rural-urban configuration; the characteristics of the territories that are potential or real bases for pluriactive strategies by the rural population; and the characteristics of the institutional webs that accompany redefinitions of territorial governance. In light of these elements, some issues for reflection are introduced in terms of the formulation of rural development policies.

Natural resources and primary sector-dependent territories in Latin America

ABSTRACT A renewed discussion about the problems associated with the productive and commercial specialization of Latin American countries in the export of commodities (agricultural, mining and energy) and raw materials to developed countries is important due to certain characteristics of the contemporary era, namely: the productive offshoring of large industrial corporations and the associated logic of ‘butterfly capital’; the rise and crisis in particular of financialized capitalism; the scientific–technological revolution based on information and communications technologies; the leadership of new players in world trade with the expansion of demand from Asian countries and particularly from China; and the rise in commodity prices.

Transformaciones territoriales contemporáneas: Desafíos del pensamiento latinoamericano

This paper discusses the theoretical and political ascent of the spatial dimen- sion and its application to the current hierarchization of territorial referencing. It outlines the most adequate theoretical and methodological references for interpreting the new social and spatial dynamics of capitalism, with a particular emphasis on Latin American thought and experiences. These processes are illustrated through a reading of emergent economic and technological trends regarding natural resource exploitation-based production chains, taking the way they affect cities and regions both in terms of external linkages and internal configurations and dynamics into account. Finally, a more general reflection on a future research agenda in the field is presented, repositioning the issue of accumulation in the context of the influence of a new scientific and technological paradigm (proprietary science).

Creación de locales industriales en Bahía Blanca (1985-1994): caracterización de los principales factores de atracción y de desplazamiento

This paper provides a case study of entry processes in a particular regional environment. The focus is based on the role of local economic structure and its evolution as main factors inducing and constraining individual decisions of new firm formation. The data emerges from a medium size city of the biggest Argentinian province with, contrasting with the evolution of the manufacturing sector at the national level, has shown a positive rate of new firm formation between the last two economic census (1984 and 1993). A survey of most salient contributions of the entry process is provided in the II section. Analysis of main components of the regional environment affectinf the level and the rate of new firm entrance suggest the absence of positive pull effects and prevalence of negative displacement effects. we emphasize that the nature of triggering factors of individual decisions about new firm creation constraints the quality of enterprises borned.