They Are Taking Everything Away from Us: Land Dispossession and the Criminal Selectivity of Indigenous Communities versus International Agricultural and Extractive Firms in Argentina

Abstract

This article examines how the Argentine state’s inadequate mediation of the relationship between indigenous communities and international agricultural and extractive companies results in criminal selectivity in terms of territorial rights. This article focuses on the Mapuche community’s struggle against the Italian Benetton Group in Patagonia to demonstrate that indigenous communities are over-criminalized and international companies are under-criminalized. Instead of utilizing a criminology perspective to explore how the criminal selectivity process is carried out, this article investigates the genesis of this dynamic from a historical perspective by employing Jacques Derrida’s concept of hauntology. The sources of this research include journal articles, newspapers, and published reports. As the global discourse about indigenous territorial rights expands in the academic context, it is pertinent to acknowledge and address historic patterns of subjugation in order to effectively initiate transformative progress.