Class Differentiation, Fragmentation, and the Probability of Labour Struggles in Argentina’s Soybean Production and  Processing

Christin Bernhold

doi:10.20446/JEP-2414-3197-41-1-50

Class Differentiation, Fragmentation, and the Probability of Labour Struggles in Argentina’s Soybean Production and Processing

Autor*innen: Christin Bernhold

https://doi.org/10.20446/JEP-2414-3197-41-1-50

Volume XXXXI • Issue 1 • 2025

Seiten 50-69

Keywords: Social upgrading, class analysis, agribusiness, Global Value Chains, strike action

Abstract

This paper critiques the Global Value Chain (GVC) framework’s notion of social upgrading, arguing that a class-relational analysis of capitalist production and labour fragmentation is better equipped to understand the conditions under which social gains can be achieved. Using a case study on agro-industrial value chains in Argentina, the paper shows how firmlevel upgrading in primary production, achieved through class differentiation, reduced the likelihood of labour struggles. In contrast, oil processing workers benefitted from structural and associational power. The paper argues that a class-relational perspective highlights the potential and constraints of organised labour in reducing the burden of exploitation, while acknowledging that true empancipation would require overcoming capitalist relations of production.

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