Playing the scales: Regional transformations and the differentiation of rural space in the Chilean wine industry

Globalization and industrial restructuring transform rural places in complex and often contradictory ways. These involve both quantitative changes, increasing the size and scope of operation to achieve economies of scale, and qualitative shifts, sometimes leading to a shift up the quality/price scale, towards finer spatial resolution and identification with place of origin. This paper examines the transformation of the Chilean wine industry noting its expansion and orientation towards export production. As the industry has changed, it has become apparent that firms have adopted different scalar strategies, sometimes downscaling by seeking low-cost production, homogenisation of product and a weak identification with place, and sometimes upscaling by improving quality, claiming exclusiveness and fixing products to ever finer definitions of place. Places have been defined, reconstructed, promoted and significantly differentiated as a result.