Commodities and Regional Development

Beyond the discussions in the field of economic development, which focus on macroeconomic dimensions and national scales, it is understood that analyzing the sector-specific characteristics of commodities and their distinct territorial insertion logics is essential for understanding the processes of reprimarization and their implications for uneven regional and urban dynamics as well as for social, territorial, and environmental conflicts.

Regarding approaches to regional development, it is necessary to revisit historically significant concepts for Latin American development, such as the territorial enclave, which is fundamental to understanding the economic spaces produced by contemporary globalization. This research project argues that analyzing the variety of territories linked to commodity production and export, along with their productive and urban linkages, can shed light on the debate around regional development strategies and contribute to the broader discussion on development models based on commodity exports.

This discussion will be advanced through the following questions: What are the implications of commodity specialization for Brazilian regional development in the contemporary period? Do the specificities of commodities (in terms of production processes, technologies, location, labor use and compensation, infrastructure, land and rent appropriation, territorial division of labor, role of the state, and transnational companies, etc.) define distinct patterns of “modern enclaves” or productive territorial clusters/agglomerations? The general objective of this project is to examine the implications of commodity specialization for Brazilian regional development in the contemporary period. Specifically, it aims to:

  1. Analyze the forms of incorporation and linkage of commodity-specialized regions into global production circuits and chains, identifying the articulations and strategies of their main agents;
  2. Identify the territorial implications of activities related to the export of agricultural and mineral commodities from the perspective of their inter-sectoral and urban linkages.

Coordenação
Hipólita Siqueira de Oliveira

Integrantes
Martin Scarpacci, Clarice Rocha, Juliana Aguiar de Melo, Isabela Tramansoli Resende e Carolinne Arruda Paulino

Financiamento
FAPERJ – Auxílio financeiro.