Rethinking enclosures from a Latin American perspective: the role of territoriality and coloniality

FRANK MÜLLER; JAIRO BAQUERO MELO; MARKUS RAUCHECKER; RAMIRO SEGURA

DesiguALdades.net. Working Paper Series

Freie Universität Berlín

Lugar: Berlín; Año: 2015 p. 1 - 43

This paper rethinks the concept of ?enclosures? from the perspective of territoriality and coloniality. We claim that while Karl Polanyi´s work on enclosures, historically set in England but triggering a global transformation of economy and society, provides useful perspectives for thinking about social inequalities it shows conceptual limits. Following a latest critique made by Nancy Fraser we argue that from the perspective of coloniality and territoriality the inner-societal conflicts, which enclosures entail, can be addressed. To sustain this conceptual critique the paper provides a cross-case analysis of three actual examples of enclosures stemming from research on exclusive urbanism in Mexico, the expansion of agricultural plantations in Colombia and pesticide regulation in Argentina.