Abstract

NERI PEREYRA, Juan Pablo. Exploitation and precarity in the Bolivian Amazon: Brazil nut factory labor. Temas Sociales [online]. 2022, n.51, pp.155-181.  Epub Nov 30, 2022. ISSN 0040-2915.  https://doi.org/10.53287/kjmb2232eb42b.

This article analyzes the factory work of Brazil nut (bertholletia excelsa) processing carried out by women in the city of Riberalta, Beni. Based on the testimonies of former factory workers and the review of secondary sources, I propose to outline some central themes of factory work in the northern Bolivian Amazon. The proposed analysis focuses on two topics: first, from the critique of political economy, I analyze the forms of labor recruitment, the exploitation of the labor force and the subsequent accumulation of capital. Second, from the feminist contributions of the Social Reproduction Theory, I describe and analyze the impact of factory work on women’s bodies and health, and on the management of their time. From both analyses, I problematize the relationship between exploitation, precarity, and social reproduction in the capitalist accumulation regime of the northern Bolivian Amazon.

Keywords : Brazil-nut; factory labor; exploitation; precarity; social reproduction.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )