The Amazon is the subject and object of multiple and varied debates that range from its biological and cultural diversity, through its role in counteracting the greenhouse effect, to its economic potential and the sustainability of its natural resources. Undoubtedly, the discussion is here to stay and has to be enriched with knowledge that is true and pertinent to its reality(s). It is in this spirit that the Center for Labor and Agrarian Development Studies (CEDLA) and the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO), with the support of the Swedish Embassy in Bolivia, promoted the research contest "Capitalist mercantile expansion and the Amazon as a new resource frontier in the 21st century". The purpose of this call was to deepen knowledge about the causes of the socioeconomic and spatial transformations that are currently occurring in the Amazon.
