State and Society in the Developing World Juan Martin Fernandez

Policy Memo UNI: jmf2244

For many decades, brick-making has been a traditional activity for poor families living in the coast
of the Paraná River in Corrientes City (Argentina). More recently, it has been a safety net,
providing income for people that losses their job. The activity relies heavily on the availability of
the crucial input, clay soil, which is deposited as sediment by the river in the banks. The arrival of
newcomers to Molina Punta, La Tosquera and other coastal barrios of the city has put pressure
on the resource, making it scarcer and generating (usually violent) frictions that reach climax
when the river floods and few spots are left available for mining.

Deposits of clay soil resemble what Ostrom (1990) calls a Common Pool Resource (CPR). Exclusion
is difficult, rivalry exists in consumption and there is a natural rate of renewal. The abrupt
increase in the brickmaker population has damaged the norms that governed the CPR for
decades. The city government has responded by providing a Leviathan-like solution, taking over
the responsibility for clay supply. However, a clientelist logic governs the relationship with
brickmakers, a sector that has grown in collective action capacity (16 coordinated associations
represent a large share of producers) and even political relevance. Hence, soil provision by the
Municipality has little regard for (or even enough information to assess) sustainability, and is
depleting the resource rapidly.

Ostrom suggests that communities of “appropriators” can successfully self-regulate under

certain conditions. That is why the local government should foster the conditions for self-
management of clay soil stocks by the brickmakers of Corrientes. First, an advisory council with
representation of all 16 organizations should be elected to advice the city in supply decisions.
This space will enable communication and debate among producers. Second, a gradual transfer
of decision-making authority to this body should take place, granting the administration of the
CPR. Third, the effective coverage of existing social safety net (CCTs, unemployment insurance,
etc.) should be guaranteed to alleviate social pressures until the new institutions emerge.

Self-adjustment takes time. It is expected that conflicts will arise, solutions will fail, and crisis will
recur, before a stable and efficient equilibrium is reached. The evolution of the system could be
monitored by several indicators, including the quantity of active producers, the average clay soil
usage per semester and the annual overall extraction. However, opinion of producers should be
the main indicator to monitor sustainability. Conflict intensity can also be measured through
surveys, as well as the democratic legitimacy of the emergent institutions.
 State and Society in the Developing World Juan Martin Fernandez
Policy Memo UNI: jmf2244

The brickmakers ask for soil to produce and national subsidies

The profitability was reduced by 60 percent. They appeal to the municipality but, like the provincial
government, they can not expect help either.

June 22, 2017

(Original article in Spanish: http://www.nortecorrientes.com/article/119947/los-ladrilleros-piden-tierra-

para-producir-y-subsidios-nacionales)

Excerpt - Translation by Google Translate

The situation of the brickmakers is increasingly delicate because they say that the profitability fell by 60
percent and the increase of the river caused the amount of soil to decrease, making the construction of
bricks very difficult. NORTE of Corrientes visited the brickworks located on the banks of the Paraná, in the
La Tosquera neighborhood, where they affirmed that it is increasingly difficult not only to build but also
to sell bricks. In this sense, from the sector they assured that the lack of land harms the sector and with
the growing of the river a lot of land is lost, so they need soil trucks to be able to manufacture the bricks.

Although the level of the Paraná River is down, for a week the brickmakers insist with the requests for
economic aid to the provincial government that, they say, ignores their claims. According to the workers,
the situation of the sector is critical. The president of the Association of Brickmakers, Julio Abasolo, said
that even when the river is going down, they still do not have enough soil to build bricks, and also stressed
that most people decide to stock up with the product from nearby provinces, higher quality, although of
greater cost. For months the workers asked the provincial government for a subsidy, in order to face the
low profitability in the sector.

“The situation in the sector is critical. Due to the increase of the Paraná River, many brickmakers were left
without land and since the river began to go down, the little land we have is of poor quality" Abasolo
explained. “We need government help, we do not ask for a ridiculous amount, we need to take action on
the matter because the sector is at a critical moment and we have no way to support our families. Many
are doing other jobs, but there are other colleagues who do not”.

The rise of the Paraná River not only affected the homes of hundreds of brickmakers and their families,
but also impacted on their source of work, as highlighted by the sector. In this sense, the workers
requested a subsidy or the incorporation to labor programs in order to mitigate the adverse situation they
are going through. They mentioned that it is necessary to give them a help to alleviate the strong economic
crisis and the situation that exists in the sector in the face of low production and sales. Although the
Paraná is on the downside, it is necessary to consider that the weather forecasts are not at all encouraging
since for the middle and end of the year extraordinary rains and new upswings in the volume of the river
are expected.