Accumulation by dispossession in Puerto Rico: 21st century

Abstract

The main objective of this text is to explain how accumulation by dispossession, a term proposed by David Harvey, manifests itself in the case of Puerto Rico during the 21st century. As a first step, we reviewed the categories generated by Karl Marx, David Harvey and Saskia Sassen that explain the development of a phenomenon that shares the same logic of original accumulation.  Secondly, from this perspective of analysis, we studied both academic and journalistic sources that explain the historical development of the current economic, socio-cultural and political crisis in Puerto Rico. This analysis shows us the relationship of complicity, even if from time to time they express anecdotal differences, between the Puerto Rican government, the US government and the financial sector.