Neoliberal crisis and the regional expansion of Michoacán’s berry agro-export sector

Abstract

The configuration of Michoacán’s regional agro-export berry industry has emerged as one of the most profitable arenas for capital accumulation, propelled by its international integration, effective labor control mechanisms, and low land rents. This expansion has unfolded amid deep poverty—particularly among Indigenous populations—an unprecedented surge in violence, and a complete absence of social resistance. This paper examines the historical trajectory of the industry–agriculture nexus and its role in shaping the region, from its origins in Mexico’s developmentalist era of the 1940s—associated with the Fordist regime of accumulation—through the current phase of neoliberal crisis and transition, culminating in 2023. It aims to reveal the subordinate and multi-scalar nature of berry agro-exportation vis-à-vis dominant forms of agri-capital at the state, national, and transnational levels—primarily avocado and maize production—which are themselves embedded within the dynamics of industrial and financial capital. The systemic chaos generated by the neoliberal crisis, the emergence of new—albeit sporadic and cross-class—forms of peasant struggle, and the subordinate position of berry-industry capital in relation to dominant agri-capital are identified as the key determinants of its expansion in Michoacán over the past two decades.