Scholarship: Capitalist commercial expansion and the Amazon as a new resource frontier in the 21st century

The occupation of the Amazonian space and the dynamics that in the last century are generating profound changes and an accelerated process of alteration of the landscape and the present living conditions, confront this region with an unprecedented reality.

The new place that the Amazon has been acquiring in national and global spaces is shaped by the logic of the expansion of capital, which rapidly extends commercial relations to the last frontiers of extraction of natural wealth.

In this context, the Amazon, until recently considered as “nature,” an “inexhaustible source of resources,” and a “demographic void,” also categorized as a “backward” or “unproductive” region, is once again at the center of global strategic debates and a space for ideological, political, and economic disputes, as well as for heightened territorial tensions exacerbated by the threat of the environmental and climate crisis. It is also undergoing a stage of accelerated socio-geographic transformation and a process of re-territorialization, in which the use of space, biodiversity, and social relations is being redesigned.

In the Amazonian space, in its complex ecosystemic, biological, economic and cultural diversity, the indiscriminate exploitation of natural wealth, whether oil, gas, mining, forests, land or water, is accompanied by new demographic dynamics and occupation pressures that exacerbate the precariousness of work and the unlimited exploitation of resources.

The above includes investments for mega-infrastructure and energy projects resulting from planned processes that would seem to focus attention on investments in this region, such as projects that under the guise of "regional integration" cross and fragment the Amazonian territory and the South American subcontinent.

Based on multiple pieces of evidence of capitalist commercial expansion in the Amazonian regions of the basin countries and the external impact of the supercycle on commodity prices between 2003 and 2013, we consider that the study of the Amazon as a new resource frontier challenges us to problematize the processes to which different spaces are subject - socio-cultural, political and economically relevant for the populations - and their effects on the territories, both because of the actors involved and because of the disputes that emerge in the face of the hoarding of common goods.

In this context, addressing the analysis of the Amazon is a challenge for the present and involves confronting the role of Latin America in the global scenario and understanding the socio-economic and spatial dynamics of the different geopolitical projects and their actors within the framework of capitalist development and their results in ideological, social, economic and political terms.

This call aims to deepen the understanding of the causes of the socio-economic and spatial transformations currently occurring in the Amazon, focusing research on one of these 5 areas:

1. New productive uses versus the sustainable use of the territory
2. Dynamics of territorial occupation and the forms/relations of production
3. Human settlements, migrations and urbanization processes
4. Forms of State intervention in the occupation and use of territory
5. Social struggles and economic and political actors at stake

The time frame for analysis should be between the years 2000 and 2019. However, the historical framework that contextualizes the research must be considered.

In social science studies, a limited approach to analysis tends to prevail, focusing on the national level or on a region or geographic area with common or similar characteristics. In this case, the aim is to use a multi-scalar analysis, starting from the definition of the spatial scope, to deepen the explanation of the phenomenon or process under study by exploring the links and complexity of relationships at different scales.

From this perspective, the main themes of the call (which guide the methodological approach of the proposals) are those indicated in the objective:

• Applicant profile - Applicants must be researchers (or part of a research team of up to 2 members) with academic experience and hold an academic degree at the bachelor's level and/or higher.
• In the case of teams, the member who applies as the person in charge or coordinator of the proposal must have a bachelor's degree and/or higher.
• Researchers should preferably have the institutional endorsement of one of the member centers belonging to the CLACSO Network.
• Each researcher or research team may only participate with one proposal in this call.

• Up to ten (10) scholarships of USD 5.000 (five thousand US dollars) each will be awarded to develop the proposed research in a maximum period of six (6) months.
• The scholarships will be paid in installments through bank transfers made to the winners.
• The scholarship amount does not include any transfer taxes established by law or bank charges, which will be covered by the institutions responsible for the call for applications.
• The ten winning projects will work with the support of tutors appointed by CLACSO and CEDLA, who will follow the process of their research.
• The winners will be responsible for covering the costs of travel and medical insurance if they undertake any trip related to the competition.

Case studies should be limited to Latin American countries located within the Amazon basin, or provide a regional or international perspective on the Amazon that encompasses different countries and can connect the Latin American context with others.

 The ten (10) scholarships to be awarded will be distributed as follows:

• Four scholarships for studies in Bolivia will be guaranteed, and
• 6 scholarships for any of the other countries in the Amazon basin (Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela), except Bolivia.

• Proposals must include a Research Profile and the corresponding Work Plan.
• Proposals may be submitted individually or by teams of no more than two members. Each researcher or team may only participate with one proposal in this call for proposals.
• In the case of teams, each team must appoint a representative who will be the point of contact with the scholarship organizers. This person must hold a bachelor's degree or higher.
• Collective applications must have at least one female member.
• The CLACSO member centers to which the applicants are linked must not have any outstanding debts in the payment of membership fees corresponding to the year 2018.
• Completed research projects will not be accepted. Proposals may be linked to ongoing research processes, but the final works must be original and unpublished products and developed within the period established by the call for proposals.
• Members of the Steering Committee or officials of the Executive Secretariat of CLACSO and members of CEDLA may not participate.
• Proposals from researchers who are currently recipients of research grants, fellowships, or research projects organized by CLACSO will not be accepted. Applications from researchers who have previously received a CLACSO research grant will be accepted, provided that the recipient has fulfilled all obligations in a timely manner.
• The proposals will be reviewed by the convening institutions in their formal and administrative aspects to verify their compliance with the rules of the Call.
• The selected research projects will develop their Work Plan between March 1st and August 31st, 2020. During the course of the research, interim reports will be established within the framework of the agreement signed between the parties.
• In their final version, the research papers submitted as a result should be between 20.000 and 30.000 words in length (excluding appendices and bibliography), written in Times New Roman 12-point font, single-spaced. This is an approximate guideline, and the organizing institutions reserve the right to accept revisions or exceptions if they deem it necessary.
• The research work must be framed within the indicated topics and must establish the temporal and spatial frameworks of the research.
• The structure of the text will be free, respecting the conventions of presentation of an academic text and the editorial standards of CLACSO.
• Texts written in the two languages ​​commonly used in Latin America and the Caribbean (Spanish and Portuguese) will be accepted, depending on the country of origin of the proposal.

• The evaluation of the presentations will be carried out by an International Committee composed of members of the convening entities who will assess the quality and relevance of the proposals submitted anonymously.
• The Call for Proposals may be declared void or a smaller number of beneficiaries may be selected, if the proposals submitted do not meet the required quality standards.
• Situations not covered in this document will be resolved by the convening institutions. The evaluation criteria for proposals will be as follows:

• The final versions of the winning research papers will be published in open access by the organizing institutions.
• Regarding publication, reproduction, and exhibition rights, the approved works may be published and disseminated within the international academic community by the organizing institutions. Therefore, scholarship recipients will fully assign to CLACSO and CEDLA the rights to publish, reproduce, and/or exhibit the final products developed within the framework of the scholarship, in any format, and must request express authorization for publication through other channels.

• It is an essential requirement that registration be done through the online system provided by CLACSO.
• Printed or emailed submissions will not be accepted. Applications that do not comply with the established guidelines will be rejected. It is recommended to access the online system to view the registration format.
1. Visit the CLACSO website to access the registration system.
2. Register in the CLACSO Single Registration System (SUIC). Each time the applicant wishes to access the system to consult, modify, add or send information in this or any other CLACSO activity, they must log in with their personal username and password.
3. Identify the proposal by indicating the title, the thematic area under which it falls, and the pseudonym chosen for the application. Applications whose pseudonyms correspond to the applicant's first and/or last name will not be accepted.
4. If applicable, complete the sworn statement indicating the applicants' affiliation with a member center belonging to the CLACSO network. Consult the database of member centers at:https://www.clacso.org/institucional/centros-asociados/
5. Complete the personal and academic information form and attach the required documents.
6. Complete the research project form. The form's structure is standardized in the online form.
7. To finalize your registration for the competition, click the "close registration" button. The system will generate an electronic certificate that will serve as proof of your successful submission. The system will only consider valid applications that have been successfully completed.