Amalia Leguizamón — A Scholar Of Sociology And A ByWater Fellow
Amalia Leguizamon never saw herself as Latin American. Moving to the United States from Argentina changed that. As the social scientist studied for her undergraduate degree and then her PhD she saw herself becoming an immigrant, almost against her will. The machinations and evolutions of one’s identity within larger power structures fascinate her to this day and inform her research priorities, whether she’s looking at the introduction of GMOs in Argentina’s agricultural industry or the hurdles of interdisciplinary climate research. Amalia is an Associate Professor at the School of Sociology at Tulane University, and she is bringing that curiosity to the ByWater Institute as a Fellow.
Amalia Leguizamón’s journey from Argentina to the United States was anything but straightforward. She was born in Bahia Blanca, a city in the South of Argentina. She and her family faced an unexpected financial crisis when the country was plunged into a financial crisis in the early 2000s.
“My parents lost their jobs, and the future in Argentina looked uncertain,” she recalls.
This crisis pushed her to seek opportunities in the United States, leading her to McKendree College, a small institution in Illinois, on a scholarship. It was here that she began to lay the foundation for her academic career in sociology.
After completing her studies at McKendree, Amalia realized that returning to Argentina wasn’t a feasible option. Driven by a desire to delve deeper into the complexities of social life, she pursued a Ph.D. in sociology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Her journey through graduate school was far from easy, marked by the struggles familiar to many immigrants.
“With working and teaching, serving tables, walking dogs, babysitting — all these things that immigrants do — I managed to complete my Ph.D. in sociology,” she says.
Sociology, for Amalia, was the perfect field because it allowed her to explore multiple disciplines — history, economics, political science — without being confined to one. This freedom was in stark contrast to the rigid academic structure she had known in Argentina, where once you choose a major, your academic path is set in stone. The calculus for choosing a major was clear to Amalia. Sociology had the most classes that she liked, it was also an area of study that wasn’t available in her hometown. Her interest in the intricacies of social life, coupled with the flexibility of the American education system, solidified her decision to stay and build her career in the United States.
Amalia’s move to the United States also reshaped her identity and scholarly focus. Initially, she thought she would study culture and globalization, but living as an immigrant in the U.S. changed her perspective.
“Moving to the United States gave me a new appreciation for Latin America as a region, which is a perspective I had not developed as an Argentine,” she admits.
This shift in identity — from being simply Argentine to being seen as Latina, as a Latin American — cracked the door to the broader forces shaping perceptions and realities open. It sparked a deep curiosity in her to explore the complex relationship between the U.S. and Latin America. She wanted to understand why countries like hers are poor when other countries are rich, which is a question she did not have when she was back home.
Argentina, GMOs, National Identity
Amalia Leguizamón’s recent research was published in a book called Seeds of Power: Environmental Injustice and Genetically Modified Soybeans in Argentina. In the book she delves deep into the heart of Argentina’s agricultural transformation, particularly focusing on the rapid and widespread adoption of genetically modified (GMO) crops. As the third-largest producer of GMO crops in the world, Argentina stands alongside agricultural giants like the United States and Brazil, with a significant portion of its farmland — approximately 50% — dedicated to soybeans. This drastic shift in agricultural practice had far-reaching implications, not just for the country’s economy but also for its social fabric and environmental health.
Leguizamón’s work seeks to uncover the reasons behind this enthusiastic embrace of GMO technology by Argentine farmers.
“I was eager to find out why the Argentine people were so eager to adopt this technology,” she explains.
Her research reveals that the motivation is not solely economic, though the profitability of GMOs is undeniable. There are also deep-seated historical and cultural factors at play. Argentina has long been an agricultural powerhouse, with its identity closely tied to large-scale farming — a stark contrast to the small-scale, indigenous agriculture more commonly associated with Latin America. The country’s farmers, often seen as a particular type of man due to traditional gender dynamics, have always prioritized profit and innovation, striving to increase production through technological advancements.
This drive for innovation and profit has roots in Argentina’s post-independence nation-building efforts.
The formation of Argentine national identity after its independence from Spain has deep roots in the country’s history, particularly during the 19th and early 20th centuries when Argentina was undergoing rapid social, political, and economic changes. This period was marked by efforts to modernize the country, which often meant striving to align more closely with European ideals and practices. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Argentina experienced a massive influx of European immigrants, particularly from Italy and Spain. This immigration wave was part of a deliberate strategy by the Argentine government to populate and “civilize” the country, which they believed would modernize Argentina and align it more closely with Europe. The influx of Europeans was seen as a way to enhance the country’s cultural and economic ties to Europe, distancing Argentina from its colonial past and indigenous roots.
This vision of the new Argentine national identity was largely centered on the cities, with the countryside viewed as a wild, untamed space in need of colonization and control.
“Colonizing and taming the countryside through machines and European immigration was very much a part of the project of building a nation,” Leguizamón notes, drawing parallels to the American concept of Manifest Destiny.
The Argentine countryside was seen as a ‘wasteland’ to be conquered, a notion reinforced by the literature and educational materials of the time. This ‘conquest of the desert’ or Conquista del Desierto, led to an agricultural boom, with wheat and cattle production propelling Argentina to global prominence as the ‘granary of the world.’
.There was a deliberate attempt to suppress indigenous cultures and languages, which were seen as incompatible with the European image the country was trying to project. The drive to conquer the wastelands and diminish the countryside was part of a broader effort to erase the “barbaric” elements of Argentine society and replace them with a Europeanized, modern identity.
However, the ‘glory days’ of Argentina’s agricultural dominance have faded, with the country now grappling with high inflation and widespread poverty. Yet, in the minds of contemporary soybean producers, their work represents a return to Argentina’s greatness, a way to revive the nation through technology and agriculture. This identity shift is evident in the way farmers now refer to themselves not as farmers, but as ‘producers’ and ‘entrepreneurs in farming.’ The agricultural industry, despite the country’s economic challenges, remains one of the few sectors that continues to generate revenue, reinforcing its critical role in the nation’s economy.
Leguizamón’s research in the book also explores the environmental and social consequences of this agricultural shift. The widespread use of GMO crops and the accompanying chemical inputs have raised concerns about food security, urban-to-rural migration, and heightened levels of toxic exposure. “How and why rural people who live by the farms navigate this new reality” is a central question in her work.
ByWater Institute Fellowship
Amalia Leguizamón’s application for the ByWater Institute Fellowship centers around a critical and often overlooked issue in interdisciplinary research, particularly in projects addressing nature-society dynamics and climate change. Her project emerges from a “failed” collaboration with a conservation ecologist on a community-engaged reforestation project in Ecuador. Despite winning a federal grant to fund this initiative, the collaboration ended before any work could begin, and the funds were returned. This experience highlighted significant challenges in interdisciplinary collaborations, especially the power imbalances related to rank, gender, race, and undervaluing of social science expertise.
Leguizamón aims to investigate these challenges further, seeking to understand what makes or breaks interdisciplinary collaborations on nature-society dynamics. Her goal is to develop a framework that can guide successful interdisciplinary research, ensuring that social sciences are valued and integrated effectively alongside natural sciences. This framework would also inform a new course for Tulane undergraduate students, training them in interdisciplinary scholarship and research, and equipping the next generation of researchers with the tools to navigate and thrive in such collaborative environments.
She emphasizes that environmental problems, including climate change, are fundamentally social issues. While the natural sciences have dominated climate change research, understanding the social structures and human behaviors driving these problems is crucial. Qualitative methodologies, which are essential for a comprehensive understanding of climate impacts and solutions, are often dismissed as less scientific. Her research seeks to bridge this gap, exploring how different disciplines frame environmental problems and solutions, and the consequences of these differences in interdisciplinary research.
This project aligns closely with the ByWater Institute’s mission to catalyze thriving climate and water futures through transformative and collaborative scholarship. By developing a framework for interdisciplinary research and creating educational opportunities for students, Leguizamón’s work promises to build capacity within the institute and foster more effective, inclusive collaborations in climate change research. This fellowship would also further her own scholarship, providing her and her future collaborators with the tools necessary for successful interdisciplinary work that genuinely integrates diverse perspectives and expertise.
