The degradation of labor and nature in the context of the sugarcane monoculture in São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

This paper discusses the socio-environmental dynamics of the modern sugarcane farming. The article develops a concrete analysis of the agribusiness phenomenon, rescuing the significant relationships that give it concrete meaning - i.e., that give it a comprehensive position within the unity of the diverse. To this end, the paper examines the dimensions involved in the exploitation of social labor and natural resources within this phenomenon - emphasizing the region of Ribeirão Preto, in the interior of São Paulo state. The study concludes that: a) the authoritarian relations that constitute the agribusiness phenomenon are in line with those described by M. Weber in his interpretation of the Junker capitalism in Germany; and b) it is necessary to articulate the social and environmental spheres in the analysis of the accumulation processes in the agricultural field, revealing the material and symbolic dimensions that support the conservative modernization represented by the agribusiness in Brazil.