Conservationist governmental technologies in the Western European mountains. The unfinished transformation of the Pyrenees

[eng] This paper, using the theoretical framework provided by political ecology, examines the impacts of state-making technologies in several areas of a first-world landscape in the Pyrenean mountain range. The Pyrenees are the mountainous range over which the contemporary border between France and Spain is located. Using regional examples, this paper discusses processes of governmental territorialization and shows how they relate to natural resources conceptualization and management with an emphasis on the political inequalities that act as a framework for these processes. We historicize the influences of public agencies on territory and natural resources, and discuss the ideological framework that sustains this, while also analyzing its social and political impacts on people and landscape.[spa] En este artículo examinamos, utilizando el marco teórico de la ecología política, los impactos de tecnologías estatales en diversas zonas de los Pirineos españoles. Describimos los procesos de territorialización gubernamental en un contexto no colonial, europeo, enfatizando su efecto en la conceptualización y la gestión de los recursos naturales. Las políticas de conservación son un tema de interés tradicional para la ecología política: en tanto que políticas públicas dedicadas a la gestión de los recursos naturales, se manifiestan como la materialización de la interacción entre política y ecología. El artículo tiene distintos objetivos analíticos: a) trasladar el énfasis del análisis de los procesos de territorialización desde una explicación basada en la tensión entre el primer y el tercer mundo, a otra que prioriza la tensa relación entre lo urbano y lo rural; b) señalar la resiliencia y la creatividad de las poblaciones locales frente a las disrupciones políticas masivas generadas por la implementación de políticas públicas; c) apuntar a la emergencia de las políticas europeas y las nuevas economías del ocio como elementos clave para la reconstrucción contemporánea de las montañas occidentales; y d) remarcar la naturaleza inacabada, o en flujo, del proceso descrito de negociación política de los derechos de acceso y control de los recursos naturales.[fra] Dans cet article, en utilisant un cadre de l'écologie politique, nous examinons les impacts des technologies de 'statemaking' dans le massif des Pyrénées, Espagne. Nous décrivons les processus de territorialisation gouvernementales dans un contexte européen, en soulignant leur effet sur la conceptualisation et la gestion des ressources naturelles. Les politiques de conservation sont un thème classique de l'écologie politique: les politiques publiques consacrées à la gestion des ressources naturelles, la politique de conservation incarnent l'interaction entre le politique et l'écologie. L'article a plusieurs objectifs d'analyse: a) de déplacer l'accent de l'analyse écologique politique vers l'impact de la relation conflictuelle entre les villes et les zones rurales en Europe. b) mettre en lumière la résilience et la créativité des populations locales face à la désorganisation politique massive par les politiques publiques. c) de signaler que les politiques européennes et les économies touristiques nouvelles sont des éléments clés de la reconstruction contemporaine de la chaîne des Pyrénées occidentales, et d) soulignent le caractère inachevé, ou le caractère continu, de la négociation politique des droits d'accès et de contrôle des des ressources naturelles

Wild animals turned into political subjects: public management of wildlife in the Pyrenees

[por] Os montes Pirineus contemporâneos foram convertidos em uma reserva ambiental. O agudo processo de despovoamento experimentado durante o século XX, e a apropriação progressiva de grande parte de seu território por parte do Estado para implementar políticas de conservação, favoreceram o reaparecimento, através da reintrodução, da promoção ou da recuperação espontânea, de diversas espécies de grandes predadores, aves de rapina, ungulados e outros mamíferos. A gestão pública da fauna selvagem nos Pirineus, por meio da qual a natureza é reinventada para se ajustar aos padrões pós-modernos da vida silvestre, manifesta a existência de racionalidades e valorações que escapam aos critérios pretensamente objetivos de uma ecologia mecanicista.[eng] The contemporary Pyrenees are becoming an environmental reservoir. The acute process of human depopulation experienced during the twentieth century and the progressive appropriation of large parts of its territory by the states to implement conservation policies have resulted in the return, via reintroduction or natural regeneration, of charismatic animal species such as the wolf, bear, deer, elk, and chamois. The public management of wildlife in the Pyrenees, by which nature is reinvented to fit postmodern standards on wildlife, says the existence of rationality and value beyond the supposedly objective criteria of a mechanical ecology

What Do We Mean by 'the Commons?' An Examination of Conceptual Blurring Over Time

Over the last 20 years the theoretical concept of the commons has come to be used not only in the field of natural resources management, but also as a key notion in domains as diverse as the digital economy and alternative politics. The wide use of the term has, however, led to a loss of specificity in the way it is used. Across several disciplines the commons is often used almost interchangeably with terms such as open access, common property, public domain, public goods, or common pool resources. We examine the reasons for the increasing conflation of these concepts over time. The field emerged as the result of the collaboration of two types of theoretical work: a) the study of common pool resources which focused on the characteristics of the resources in order to predict social behaviour, and b) research on the analysis of common property regimes that focused on the structural characteristics of the institutions devised to manage those resources. This difference in emphasis resulted in the development of two sets of concepts to refer to the same processes but from slightly different perspectives. With increasing interest in research focussed on the commons, these concepts are often used uncritically and their original designations are conflated across a suite of categories

The mountainous space as a commodity: the Pyrenees at the age of globalization

Podeu cosultar la versió en francès de l'article a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/162826[eng] In these pages we reflect on the process of transformation of the Catalan Pyrenees from a peripheral and economically decaying area to a first-rate tourism center. Real estate speculation has replaced depopulation. The economic and social value of the territory has dramatically shifted as it has gone from supporting low profitability ranching activities to become the space where resorts and parks are built. The paper analyzes the process of commodification and patrimonialization that have reintegrated the area into the national and international leisure markets paying special attention to the role of conservation practices, ski resorts and second residences in such a process. Finally, we attempt to identify the similarities and differences that characterize the two emergent tourism models: mass tourism versus small scale ecotourism.[fra] Au fil de ces pages, nous réfléchissons au processus de transformation des Pyrénées catalanes de zone périphérique et en déclin économique en centre touristique de qualité. La spéculation immobilière a remplacé le dépeuplement. La valeur économique et sociale du territoire a radicalement changé, la promotion des activités d'élevage peu rentables ayant cédé la place aux stations touristiques et aux parcs. Cet article analyse le processus de marchandisation et de patrimonialisation qui a réintégré la région sur les marchés de loisirs nationaux et internationaux en prêtant une attention particulière au rôle des pratiques de conservation, des stations de ski et des résidences secondaires. Enfin, nous tentons d'identifier les similitudes et les différences qui caractérisent les deux modèles touristiques émergents : le tourisme de masse contre l'écotourisme à l'échelle locale

Consuming space, nature and culture: patrimonial discussions in the hyper-modern era

In this paper we reflect on what we call the process of 'patrimonialization' of culture and nature currently taking place in the Western mountainous inlands of the Spanish Eastern Pyrenees. Landscapes, as cultural and historical formations, are presently being commodified and connected to global networks of consumption dominated by urban and 'postmaterialistic' values. Conservation policies, ski resorts and cultural museums are mushrooming in previously 'abandoned' agricultural fields or vacated factories. This shift from agriculture, ranching and industry, to conservation and services marks the connection of the Pyrenean valleys to the global modernity and to the hyper-modern era. These processes of transformation have been generally depicted as structural processes of unilateral redefinition of the urban-rural divide: redefinition that results on direct urban appropriation. Rural populations, however, are far from passive subjects of external influences. The analysis of local agency suggests a more complicated picture in which local economic and cultural choices are included as explanatory variables. The story of the connection of these spaces to regional and global networks is not only a story about local dispossession, but also about local ingenuity. The globalization of the economy in the early 1970s disempowered and relegated these areas to the periphery of the economic system. The consolidation of a global modernity articulated around the need to provide leisure has opened a venue for these areas to reconnect themselves to the central networks and to attract large amounts of resources from these urban dominated economic systems

The New Pyrenees. Contemporary conflicts around patrimony, resources and urbanization

In the last twenty years the Pyrenean social landscape has experienced a significant change associated with shifts on the uses of its natural resources. Communities previously characterized by their high rates of depopulation are now in a process of relative demographic recovery. This change is associated to a shift from primary economic activities such as ranching, timber extraction or agriculture to an economic model based on leisure and services. In other words, the current Pyrenees are not dominated by agro-ranching practices. Nowadays the range is increasingly occupied by economic and social initiatives devoted to foster tourism and to cover the needs of visitors. In Spain this change has connected areas of the periphery of the countryside with its urban markets. It has moved the area from a set of marginal and unprofitable economic activities to a highly profitable market based on seasonal tourism and territorial speculation. The economic and symbolic reconstruction of the mountains from pastures into ski runs, for instance, has revealed all their economic potential in this globalized era of ours. This paper is focused in the Pallars Sobirà, a Western district of the Catalan Pyrenees. It explores the consequences of this reconfiguration of the natural resources of an area. Nature becomes patrimony: it is either protected through conservation policies designed by the state, or exploited by local or external corporations. In any case, these recent changes are having significant impacts on settlement patterns, community identity, and public policies

Antropología de la Conservación en España. Balance y perspectivas

En este artículo presentamos un balance de la Antropología de la Conservación en el Estado español. Durante las últimas décadas, la protección de los espacios naturales ha aumentado de una manera exponencial en todo el mundo. A la vez que se extendía esta patrimonialización de la naturaleza, los trabajos etnográficos sobre las áreas protegidas han ido ganando terreno dentro de la disciplina y, en particular, en el campo de la Antropología Ambiental. La mencionada bibliografía ha puesto de relieve los múltiples aspectos derivados de las nuevas políticas territoriales de regulación, apropiación y mercantilización de la 'naturaleza'. En este trabajo realizamos una revisión exhaustiva de la producción generada a raíz de este interés por las áreas protegidas en nuestro país subrayando sus principales aportaciones, características y debilidades. De este modo pretendemos reflexionar acerca de su continuidad, con el fin de evitar la mera reiteración y favorecer el avance en sus resultado

Heritage and knowledge: apparatus, logic and strategies in the formation of heritage

Heritage as a category reflects diverse political positions. All heritagisation processes imply the creation of hierarchies, selection, ranking, and categorization of what is worthy or unworthy of being heritage, and all heritage creation involves certain disciplinary processes that confer legitimacy. As a modern invention, heritage was built on two closely-related cornerstones: the distinction between nature and culture and the difference between normalized knowledge and marginal knowledge. As a result, refining processes were applied which became strategies to legitimise political domination. In this paper the constituent process of heritage creation and its links to normative knowledge are analysed, illustrating the various relationships between types of knowledge in the heritagisation process with the case of the Albufera Natural Park in Spain. A particular focus is placed on the processes that affect territories and natural resources, modifying the material conditions of the local population. Beyond giving rise to a mere acceptance of imposed expert knowledge, the analysed dynamics reveal the responsiveness of the local actors, as they make use of this knowledge in the context of a counter-hegemonic discourse