Zur politischen Ökonomie des argentinischen Agro-Food-Systems

The production, processing and distribution of groceries are the material expression of each and every concrete historical social order and thus always reflect relations of power and domination. In recent years, discussions on the global agro-food system have focused on the dominance of large retailers and the ‘supermarketisation’ of the Global South. The actions of multinational retailers especially are often blamed for the system’s negative effects on small-scale local producers and retailers. This study of the Argentine agro-food system claims that an analysis of the impact of large-scale retailers must take the extent to which they are embedded in a socio-economic and political environment into account. Therefore, their success can only be explained by linking it to Argentine government policies, the global exchange regime and consumers’ positive reception of the so-called modern shopping experience.