Local-Global Relations and Geographical Indication in Latin American Agrarian Regions. Cases from Brazil and Argentine.

The paper focus on Argentinean Río Negro and Neuquén Valleys on the one hand, and the Brazilian San Francisco Valley region, on the other hand, tailored to produce fruit for export, although starting at different stages, early on they attracted capital and migrants. New State development projects supported by public policy and capital mobility transformed agriculture and labor relations in the regions. Peasants and rural labor saw in these projects opportunities to improve their conditions for social reproduction, work and life. At the end of the last century, mechanisms related to traceability and certification of production. Conversely, others elements were strategically used by local institutions, such as geographical indication. Little by little, local production and paths of local development came to depend on global corporations. Big effort to adapt to new ways of work as well as to maintain the local traditions were, nevertheless, used by global corporations to give visibility to their new fruits for export. These various processes attracted the attention of Brazilian and Argentinean researchers who directed the focus of observation to transformation of local relations and to their linkages to various processes in the global order. For this, they form new research institutions and postgraduate training. Subsequently, new partners came to the original nucleus; others were associated in favor of an agenda of training and research projects. Through research networks, it became possible to understand the conditions of work, rural development, and the way in which Geographical Indication came into the process; and to increase the number and quality of publications and strategies to disseminate Sociological knowledge. These experiences contributed to other successful ones, amplifying the focus of study to other countries, through research groups supported by CLACSO, American and European development agencies, to highlight just a few. We will analyze those experiences in the presentation.