INCIHUSA   20883
INSTITUTO DE CIENCIAS HUMANAS, SOCIALES Y AMBIENTALES
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Wine, Golf and Violence: Gualtallary in the emerging global countryside of the oases of Mendoza (Argentina)
Autor/es:
ROBIN LARSIMONT
Lugar:
Barcelona
Reunión:
Congreso; International conference Historical Materialism; 2019
Institución organizadora:
Universidad de Barcelona
Resumen:
In the last three decades, the oases of the semi-arid province of Mendoza -historically known for their regional vitiviniculture economy- have experienced an uneven productive restructuring process oriented to the production and exportation of high quality wines. This productive shift have attracted many national and foreign investors, seeking to diversify their investments or to combine the export vitiviniculture with others sources of profit, such as tourism and luxury real estate complexes. In this context, one of theses oases, the Uco Valley has become the Argentina´s equivalent to California´s Napa Valley. In particular, the climatic and soil conditions of the district of Gualtallary have aroused great interest. However, this highly-coveted terroir, now considered the finest area for the production of premium wines in Mendoza, is also known as one of the poorest district of the province. There, the uneven landscape produced by this wave of investment combine luxury real estate projects -with golf course and polo field- surrounded by vineyards on the one hand, and on the other some rural slums and small fruit farmers in crisis ready to sell their plots. While corporate actors and local government authorities brag about the profit-generating potential of the district, land tenure conflicts are rendered invisible. Victim of intimidations or violent expropriation, by means of fences and armed guards, some residents have become locked in a conflictual relationship with theses "new neighbors".