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Stephen J Scanlan, Review of “Seeds of Power: Environmental Injustice and Genetically Modified Soybeans in Argentina”, Social Forces, Volume 100, Issue 2, December 2021, Page e14, https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soab068
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Amalia Leguizamón notes that most people would assume soybeans to be largely innocuous—that is, if they are even thought about at all. Soy may show up in grocery carts in obvious forms of soymilk or tofu. But people will more likely consume it in less obvious ways such as soybean oil. As she further explains, this is used in a variety of processed foods including crackers, chocolate, cereal bars, margarine, mayonnaise, salad dressings, and dairy and meat substitutes in addition to infant formula and numerous other products (p. 11). She continues, further noting that the vast majority of soybeans are used as animal feed with additional applications in the production of biofuels, construction materials, and personal care products.
When viewed through the critical lens that Leguizamón offers in Seeds of Power, however, readers will develop a much greater understanding of why soybeans matter given their central place in global agriculture and their particular importance to the Pampas of Argentina and the agribusiness industry that dominates the region. In examining genetically modified (GM) soybeans specifically, Leguizamón reveals the “soybean chain … consolidated across just a handful of large agribusinesses that guide agrarian production from afar, distanced from the social and environmental realities where soybeans are grown” (p. 14). Furthermore, Leguizamón conceptualizes the notion of “synergies of power” to reveal how in the case of GM soy in Argentina, agribusiness, the media, scientists, and the state come together to “create and legitimate human suffering, social inequality, and environmental degradation” (p. 3).
