Territories of Reprimarization: Commodities and Regional Development in Brazil

The significance of Latin America—and Brazil, in particular—as a supplier of raw materials and food for global markets, especially China, underscores the need for a theoretical revision and update of classic Latin American perspectives on the continent’s unequal integration into the global economy (through center-periphery relations and dependency). However, these perspectives should be reconsidered in light of transformations in the contemporary global economy, characterized by the emergence of global production circuits and chains led by transnational corporations; changes in geopolitical and geoeconomic contexts; the territorial rescaling of nation-states; and the impacts of financialization on the valorization of capital invested in natural resource exploitation, as highlighted by both international and national literature.

Beyond macroeconomic and national-level discussions in the field of economic development, analyzing the sectoral specificities of commodities and the distinct logics of territorial integration is crucial for understanding these reprimarization processes and their implications for uneven regional and urban dynamics. Regarding regional development approaches, it is essential to revisit historically significant concepts for Latin American development, such as the territorial enclave, which is fundamental for understanding some economic spaces produced by contemporary globalization.

This research project argues that analyzing the variety of territories linked to commodity production and export, as well as 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. Do the specific characteristics of commodities (in terms of production processes, technology, location, labor use and compensation, infrastructure, land appropriation and rent, territorial division of labor, the role of the state, and transnational corporations, etc.) define distinct patterns of “modern enclaves” or productive territorial clusters/agglomerations? Are there more income leakages abroad or more intersectoral/regional/urban linkages? What are the implications and limitations of specialization and integration into global commodity chains for regional development, Brazilian urbanization, and urban and regional planning in Brazil?

The general objective of this research project is to examine the implications of the reprimarization process for Brazilian regional development and urbanization in the contemporary period. The specific objectives are:

1. To analyze the forms of incorporation and integration of commodity-specialized regions into territorial circuits and global production chains, identifying the trans-scalar articulations and strategies of their main agents;
2. To identify the territorial ramifications of the specificities of commodity export activities from the perspective of their intersectoral/regional linkages and urban and regional planning in Brazil.