La Ley de semillas en Argentina: la disputa por el control y el futuro de la agricultura

Desde la llegada de la revolución bioteconológica en la agricultura mundial, las corporaciones semilleras-agroquímicas han avanzado en el control del mercado internacional de alimentos, a partir de diversos mecanismos, entre ellos el de la legislación de derechos de propiedad intelectual. En América Latina, distintos gobiernos han procurado adecuar la legislación nacional a estas tendencias internacionales, con resultado dispar, ya que se ha generado una fuerte resistencia desde organizaciones populares. Argentina, un país de temprana inserción en el mercado internacional de alimentos y de rápida adopción de los derechos de obtentor, está atravesado hoy por una nueva fase de esta disputa, ante la posible sanción de una nueva Ley de Semillas, en la que empresa estadounidense Monsanto está involucrada. Este trabajo hace un repaso del panorama actual desde un punto de vista geográfico, prestando especial atención a las estrategias de las organizaciones que se oponen a la nueva legislación.

Return Migration in the Ecuadorian and Bolivian population: motivations, strategies and discourses

This article analyses the motivations for return migration among the Ecuadorians and Bolivians who, after living in Spain, returned to their countries of origin during the economic crisis that started in 2008. From the analysis of 22 interviews in-depth which took place in Ecuador and 38 in Bolivia to women, men and young people from migrant families, this decision-making process is shown to be embedded into a gendered dynamics of relationships. Particular detail is given to affective and economic elements that had an influence on the decision to return, as well as to the strategies deployed to project their readjustment back in origin. Males and females occupy differential positions within the family, work and social circle, their expectations being built in a gendered manner. Despite the fact migration has brought women greater economic power within the family group, their reintegration upon return redefines their role as main managers in the household and the dynamics that allow their social reproduction. Men, for their part, aspire to refresh their role as providers in spite of their frail labour position upon return. Social mobility for females is passed on through generations by a strong investment on education for their daughters and sons, while for males this mobility revolves around setting up family businesses and around their demonstrative abilities.

Contemporary Transformations of the Relations between Politics, Culture and Religion in Western Europe. Some Notes on the Spanish Case

According to Tilly, two laws shaped the process of transformation undergone by Western European societies since the Peace of Westphalia until the end of the 20th century: their increasing inner homogenisation and their growing heterogeneity between them. Cultural inner homogenisation affected, fi rst, those ethnic groups living within the territories of the said states. The second phase of homogenisation impinged on those groups that immigrated after World War II. This process followed different models according to the country considered, but the 1973 oil crisis revealed their general lack of success. During the last quarter of the 20th century and onwards, these European societies have been altered by two progressive and contradictory global logics: a process of cultural homogenisation at the world level (rather than society level) and a process of cultural re-creation led by those groups with an immigrant background, who have reacted against their integration shortcomings by searching for new sources of social and personal esteem in their respective cultural and religious traditions. This paper seeks to clarify these processes from a social differentiation and political representation theory perspective. The latter becomes indispensable, as the said processes have happened in a context in which the structure of relations (i.e. communication) between civil society and the democratic political sphere have experienced a radical crisis. In this way, the complex relations that exist between civil society, culture, religion and politics in these Western European societies are depicted.