Extractivisms, Existences and Extinctions: Monoculture Plantations and Amazon Deforestation by Markus Kröger

Author:Markus Kröger [Kröger, Markus]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, General
ISBN: 9781000473872
Google: ZpxKEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2021-10-27T09:09:47+00:00

There were countless life-forms being killed that day in front of our eyes and under our noses, as the tractor spread poison over the huge field, running at 60–80 km per hour. Marcos explained how it is a constant race to try to develop what he called “defensives” against the ever-developing pests and diseases that have become resistant to pesticides (see Clapp 2021; Shattuck 2021). Monocultures tend to create the need for different kinds of pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, bactericides, and disinfectants, which can be spread on top of the plantations or inserted directly into the GM crops. The very presence of the monocultures and decreased biodiversity create conditions where pests are transformed and redefined at the species level as a threat to the crops (Weis 2013). These same species would not be pests in high biodiversity settings, as the diversity balances out the potential harmful effects of any one specific species or type of species (Altieri 2018). Thus, monoculturization leads to a redistribution and transformation of almost all the existences it touches or where it is based, which also includes the forms of life it uses as its agents. The role and meanings of what existed before are transformed when a place experiences a shift to the monoculturization drive. I have included some photos of the beings, which the soybean producers call pests and order to be killed (see Figures 3.3 and 3.4).

Figure 3.3One of the beings whose existence is intolerable due to the perception of it being “dangerous invader” that threatens potential profits.

Source: Photo taken by the author.

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