Abstract

This chapter focuses on the relationship between neo-extractivism, water and the state in the context of the water scarcity in contemporary Chile. It focuses on public policies oriented at the transformation of territories in relation to access, control and administration of water resources, analyzing their relationship with the configuration of the agro-export sector since the 1980s. With this objective, the effects of these policies are analyzed in two areas – water scarcity scenarios and territorial inequalities – based on the political ecology of water approach. The research used a mixed methodology focused on an analysis of water rights allocation and state subsidies for irrigation infrastructure and technology, both with high levels of concentration in agro-export elites and territorial impacts. In order document local dynamics, we use an ethnographic approach to address one emblematic case of agro-export territories: Maule, a region with an important presence of the agro-export sector, a large public investment in irrigation and a scenario of serious water scarcity in the last 12 years.