(Neo)extractive states bargaining multiscalar development: insights from the Chilean case

Keywords: Extractivism, bargaining, multiscalar development, power, Chile
Abstract Type: Virtual Paper Abstract

Abstract

Under neoliberalism, Latin American resource-rich countries implemented a development
strategy based on the exploitation and exportation of extractive goods with low value added,
labelled extractivism. However, the last commodity supercycle and the rise of leftist
governments with stronger states promoted new/neo extractivist strategies. The
(neo)extractivist literature recognizes the pivotal role that states play in bargaining
multiscalar developmental outcomes, shaped under different political arrangements, but
without fully unpacking them. This research contributes to such discussion by, first,
conceptually exploring how (neo)extractive states could bargain developmental outcomes,
and how those are shaped at the national and regional scale by three different political
arrangements: developmental, rentier and neoliberal. Second, it provides an empirical
analysis of Chile, a prime example of flawed but extreme neoliberal extractivism.

The empirical focus on the Chilean case is due to its reputation of successful mining-based
development and its earlier, extreme, and flawed adoption of neoliberal extractivism. Chilean
state bargains are studied at the national and regional levels using primary data from semistructured interviews with key informants and secondary resources. The findings show that
the Chilean neoliberal state follows a twofold bargaining strategy to reinforce a centralist
form of neoliberalism, producing uneven forms of extractive-based development. Nationally,
it avoids exerting its bargaining strength with multinational enterprises; while regionally, it
fully uses its capacities to avoid regional bargains, and a better chance for reaching
sustainable regional development.