Social economic transformation has been usually discussed within the theoretical confines of development and underdevelopment. Marxist literature has emphasized the notions of dependency, modes of production, and imperialism to explain the complex articulation of capitalist and non-capitalist social formations. Yet, these theoretical approaches tend to suppress the complexity of reality, portraying stylized versions of the capital/non-capital interaction. Using a particular Marxist epistemological position (overdetermination) and the Marxian concept of class as a theoretical entry point, this paper seeks to advance an alternative non-essentialist theory of the capitalist and non-capitalist interaction. More specifically, this paper discusses the concept of “extractive imperialism”, which has recently become prevalent among critical scholars studying Latin America and its natural resource dependence. These scholars argue that a “new imperialism” emerged as a response to the systemic crisis of contemporary capitalism, a crisis nurtured by the neoliberal policies, which accelerated the transition "toward a strategy of natural resources" in order to both boosting capital accumulation and bringing a solution to the systemic crisis, at least in the short term. Extractive imperialism represents an interesting departure from the traditional literature on natural-resources. Proponents of the extractive imperialism thesis have to be acknowledged for bringing back class analysis to the core of the natural-resources research agenda. Yet, the extractive imperialism thesis suffer, at least, from two main shortcomings. First, extractivism is an enduring feature of post-colonial countries, like Peru, rather than being a particular manifestation of neoliberalism capitalism, as some commentators would argue. Second, class is defined in the traditional sense as the coalition of several individuals sharing a common economic interest. This dichotomous theory of class is essentialist and completely overlook Marx’s insight that class does not refer to a group of persons but rather to the process of production, appropriation, and distribution of surplus labor. Instead, I propose to study the extractive sector, and the interaction of transnational capital with peasant and indigenous communities in the Andeas of Peru (non-capital), through the lens of a Global Value Chain approach grounded in a non-essentialist Marxian class analysis.
This paper provides an empirical account of the extractive sector through an examination of the mining industry in Peru, and their connections with the global mining value chain. Using a Global Commodity Chain (GCC)/Global Value Chain (GVC) approach grounded in a non-essentialist Marxian class analysis, the complex interaction of transnational mining capital and peasants, and indigenous, communities in the Andes of Peru (non-capital) are analyzed. This study focuses in two regions of northern Peru: Cajamarca and Ancash, and two commodities: gold and copper. These two regions were selected based in the following criteria. First, the geo-economic importance of Cajamarca and Ancash in the global mining chain. Both regions are among the biggest producers of gold and copper in the country, and thus it is a place where mining multinational corporations operate. Second, Ancash and Cajamarca are regions located in the highlands with a considerable peasant population, living from traditional agricultural activities. This particular social configuration allow us to elucidate the complexity of the capitalist/non-capitalist interaction. Looking at the mining global value chain through the lens of the Marxian class process allows us to identify and study all the actors and processes involved in the production, distribution, and appropriation of surpluses, and all the non-class processes necessary for the existence of the different class processes. In other words, the various forms of class processes (i.e. capitalist, non-capitalist) and class positions (i.e. fundamental and subsumed) within the gold and copper mining chain are specified and examined.