Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Historical Materialism 2024, İstanbul, Türkiye, 5 - 07 Nisan 2024
A growing body of literature addresses the limits of the neo-developmentalist/neoextractivist
strategies implemented by the so-called “pink tide” governments in Latin America over the past two
decades. Leftist governments' support for extractive industries, particularly mining and agribusiness,
and their denial of the social and environmental impacts of neoextractivist strategies are considered
significant weaknesses of the Latin American left. The materialist (socialist) ecofeminist critique of
neo-developmentalism constructs an alternative, post-extractivist, ecologically just, women-centered
development perspective, which allows peasant and working-class women to resist "extractivist
imperialism." This paper presents a materialist ecofeminist critique of neoextractivism by highlighting
its historical origins and elaborating its economic policy implications in Latin America. Three
questions addressed are as follows: How can materialist ecofeminism contribute to understanding
the current dynamics of capitalist development in Latin America, why (neo)extractivism hits women
hardest, and to what extent and how ecofeminist movements can shape a post-extractivist transition
to a just and sustainable future. In this framework, this paper is intended to contribute to the
growing literature and debate on the development and resistance dynamics of neoextractivism in
Latin America, where long-standing racial and gender inequalities intersect with class inequalities.
The paper’s main argument is that exploitation and oppression in Latin America can be understood in
terms of gender, race, and class and, therefore, require an intersectional analysis framework. Within
this framework, post-extractivist alternatives in this region must incorporate an ecofeminist analysis
to understand better how social expression systems (including sexism, white supremacy, and
ecological crises) intersect and reinforce each other. The significance of this paper lies in its
contribution to the understanding of the contemporary dynamics of class struggle in Latin America,
which are shaped by struggles over social reproduction and resistance against neoextractivism.