Territorial Trajectories within a New Centre for the Globalised Mining Industry: the Andes of Northern Argentina

Argentina’s mining industry has grown rapidly in recent years, making the sector an essential part of the country’s economy and placing the Andes at the centre of numerous economic, political and social issues. This article examines the spatial distribution of mining activities and the role attribut...

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Main Author: Marie Forget
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institut de Géographie Alpine 2016-01-01
Series:Revue de Géographie Alpine
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/rga/3024
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author Marie Forget
author_facet Marie Forget
author_sort Marie Forget
collection DOAJ
description Argentina’s mining industry has grown rapidly in recent years, making the sector an essential part of the country’s economy and placing the Andes at the centre of numerous economic, political and social issues. This article examines the spatial distribution of mining activities and the role attributed to the mountains of northwest Argentina. Exploiting these territories as reservoirs of raw materials was uncontroversial at the beginning of the century; however, this approach is now being contested because it leads to little territorial development. Latin America’s renewed focus on primary industries involving the extraction and export of unprocessed natural resources can be viewed as a step back to colonial-style exploitation. As such, it raises questions about North–South relations and the development of mountain territories, which are often peripheral, poor and sparsely populated. Our research examines the territorial-development trajectories of three provinces – San Juan, Catamarca and Jujuy – and analyses how interactions between governmental and non-governmental actors affect a territory’s approach to constructing and exploiting its resources. Questions about the way in which these interactions shape the development of mountain territories have led to alternative models that take into account the need for territorial development to be built locally.
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spelling doaj-art-dddc16cb0ee64a3e874c43a77a188ed52025-01-10T15:53:48ZengInstitut de Géographie AlpineRevue de Géographie Alpine0035-11211760-74262016-01-01103310.4000/rga.3024Territorial Trajectories within a New Centre for the Globalised Mining Industry: the Andes of Northern ArgentinaMarie ForgetArgentina’s mining industry has grown rapidly in recent years, making the sector an essential part of the country’s economy and placing the Andes at the centre of numerous economic, political and social issues. This article examines the spatial distribution of mining activities and the role attributed to the mountains of northwest Argentina. Exploiting these territories as reservoirs of raw materials was uncontroversial at the beginning of the century; however, this approach is now being contested because it leads to little territorial development. Latin America’s renewed focus on primary industries involving the extraction and export of unprocessed natural resources can be viewed as a step back to colonial-style exploitation. As such, it raises questions about North–South relations and the development of mountain territories, which are often peripheral, poor and sparsely populated. Our research examines the territorial-development trajectories of three provinces – San Juan, Catamarca and Jujuy – and analyses how interactions between governmental and non-governmental actors affect a territory’s approach to constructing and exploiting its resources. Questions about the way in which these interactions shape the development of mountain territories have led to alternative models that take into account the need for territorial development to be built locally.https://journals.openedition.org/rga/3024environmentAndesArgentinaminingextractivismterritorial development
spellingShingle Marie Forget
Territorial Trajectories within a New Centre for the Globalised Mining Industry: the Andes of Northern Argentina
Revue de Géographie Alpine
environment
Andes
Argentina
mining
extractivism
territorial development
title Territorial Trajectories within a New Centre for the Globalised Mining Industry: the Andes of Northern Argentina
title_full Territorial Trajectories within a New Centre for the Globalised Mining Industry: the Andes of Northern Argentina
title_fullStr Territorial Trajectories within a New Centre for the Globalised Mining Industry: the Andes of Northern Argentina
title_full_unstemmed Territorial Trajectories within a New Centre for the Globalised Mining Industry: the Andes of Northern Argentina
title_short Territorial Trajectories within a New Centre for the Globalised Mining Industry: the Andes of Northern Argentina
title_sort territorial trajectories within a new centre for the globalised mining industry the andes of northern argentina
topic environment
Andes
Argentina
mining
extractivism
territorial development
url https://journals.openedition.org/rga/3024
work_keys_str_mv AT marieforget territorialtrajectorieswithinanewcentrefortheglobalisedminingindustrytheandesofnorthernargentina