Espíritus en los bosques: una socioecología de las “naturalezas salvajes” brasileñas

Aquest article proposa innovacions teòriques, metodològiques i empíriques que poden expressar millor la riquesa de les cosmovisions no seculars i llur relació amb aspectes ambientals globals. S’empra un enfocament relacional de les “natures salvatges” brasileres per dialogar amb cosmovisions animistes i espiritualment bifurcades i tal vegada fins i tot amb éssers no humans de manera que es pugui promoure una conservació ambiental socialment inclusiva. Això resulta de màxima importància en un moment en què el naturalisme naïf de la conservació biocèntrica basat en l’anomenada “(re)naturalització” no està mitigant pas les emissions de carboni ni el canvi climàtic de forma significativa. Per tal d’assolir una mena de conservació més espiritual, dos dels catorze modes d’existència de Latour en una cosmovisió científica reformada —la religió [REL] i la metamorfosi [MET]— estan relacionats amb la conservació ambiental. Es presenten quatre tipus ideals de cosmovisió que es mostren hibridats en tres biomes diferents del Brasil. Es demostra que les cosmovisions híbrides, animistes i espiritualment bifurcades predominen a les regions boscoses preservades del país. Des d’una perspectiva constructivista, aquestes cosmovisions es relacionen amb la conservació socioecològica relacional, superant la seva omissió per part de les mentalitats dominants als parcs nacionals biocèntrics de biaix urbà.This article proposes theoretical, methodological and empirical innovations which can better express the richness of non-secular worldviews and their relationship to global environmental issues. A relational approach to the Brazilian “wilds” is used to dialogue with animist and spiritually bifurcated worldviews and perhaps even with non-human beings in a way that promotes socially-inclusive environmental conservation. This is of the utmost importance at a time when the naïve naturalism of biocentric conservation of the so-called (re)wilds is not mitigating global carbon emissions and climate change in any significant way. In the search for a more spiritual kind of conservation, two of Latour’s fourteen modes of existence in a reformed scientific worldview — religion [REL] and metamorphosis [MET] — are related to environmental conservation. Four ideal types of worldview are presented and shown to be hybridized in three different biomes of Brazil. Hybridized animist-spiritually bifurcated worldviews are shown to predominate in preserved wooded regions of the country and are constructively engaged by relational socio-ecological conservation rather than ignored by urban-biased biocentric national park mentalities.Este artículo propone innovaciones teóricas, metodológicas y empíricas que pueden expresar mejor la riqueza de las cosmovisiones no seculares y su relación con aspectos ambientales globales. Se utiliza un enfoque relacional de las “naturalezas salvajes” brasileñas para dialogar con cosmovisiones animistas y espiritualmente bifurcadas y tal vez incluso con seres no humanos de manera que se pueda promover una conservación ambiental socialmente inclusiva. Ello resulta de suma importancia en un momento en el que el naturalismo naíf de la conservación biocéntrica basado en la llamada “(re)naturalización” no está mitigando las emisiones globales de carbono ni el cambio climático de forma significativa. En aras a un tipo de conservación más espiritual, dos de los catorce modos de existencia de Latour en una cosmovisión científica reformada —la religión [REL] y la metamorfosis [MET]— están relacionados con la conservación ambiental. Se presentan cuatro tipos ideales de cosmovisión que se muestran hibridados en tres biomas diferentes de Brasil. Se demuestra que las cosmovisiones híbridas, animistas y espiritualmente bifurcadas predominan en las regiones boscosas preservadas del país. Desde una perspectiva constructivista, estas cosmovisiones se relacionan con la conservación socioecológica relacional, superando su omisión por parte de las mentalidades dominantes en los parques nacionales biocéntricos de sesgo urbano

A produção de alimentos básicos: reestruturação regional?

The evolution of development policy and the behavior of farm prices is related to change in the production of the traditional staples beans, manioc, maize and rice during three distinct periods: 1940-1964, 1964-1979 and 1979 to date. From 1940 onward staple production in the economic heartland of Brazil came under increasing pressure from expanding export and agroindustrial production on one hand and from discriminatory pricing policy on the other. In response to this pressure staple farmers in the South, Southeast and more recently in the Central-West increased productivity through flexible capitalization. Production continued to expand in these regions so that they still dominate the national market for beans, maize and rice. At the same time horizontal expansion of food production on the distant frontier proved to be insignificant and fell drastically in the depressed peripheral Northeast region disproving theses which attribute staple production to pre-capitalist peasant farmers of these regions.Resum

Débats épistémologiques dans la géographie culturelle anglo-américaine

Pour éclairer les débats qui se développent depuis une dizaine d’années au sein de la New Cultural Geography, l’auteur la resitue dans le temps long de l’histoire de la géographie et de l’anthropologie de langue anglaise depuis un siècle. Il souligne le parallélisme entre l’évolution de la géographie et celle de l’anthropologie. Pour lui, les sciences passent successivement par des phases d’empirisme, de rationalisme et de phénoménologie. La nouvelle géographie culturelle apparaît alors comme une réaction phénoménologique normale face aux excès de rationalisme ou d’empirisme des années 1960 ou 1970.In arder to understand the debates which developed since ten years within the New Cultural Geography, the author puts it within the long perspective of the history of anglo-arnerican geography and anthropology since a century. He stresses the parallel evolutions of bath disciplines. For him, sciences move successively from empiricism to rationalism and phenomenology, and back again. The New Cultural Geography appears as a reaction against the narrow mindedness of rationalism and empiricism in the 60s and 70s

Što su autohtone i tradicionalne populacije? Relacijski pristup etničkim područjima i očuvanju okoliša u Brazilu

This article explores the contradictory relationship between identity politics and environmental conservation in Brazil. First, the rationale for setting aside territories for ethnic groups in Brazil that have been historically discriminated against is examined and legal definitions for such traditional populations are presented. Second, ethnographic and philosophical critiques of essentialized ethnic identity are used to highlight how traditionality and conservation are conflated in Brazilian environmental policies. These policies, in turn, are related to another bundle of contradictions in Western bio-centric preservation which (erroneously) essentializes nature and excludes the human presence from within reserves. Research findings from two remote regions located in critical biomes for conservation in Brazil are presented succinctly to illustrate different kinds of contradictions between ethnic territories and conservation. In conclusion, a relational research agenda is offered which avoids the pitfalls of essentialized identity and nature.Ovaj članak istražuje kontradiktorni odnos između politike identiteta i očuvanja okoliša u Brazilu. Prvo se ispituje obrazloženje za uspostavljanje teritorija za etničke skupine u Brazilu koje su povijesno diskriminirane te se navode pravne definicije za takve tradicionalne populacije. Potom se etnografska i filozofska kritika esencijaliziranoga etničkog identiteta koristi za isticanje kako su tradicionalnost i očuvanje povezani s brazilskim politikama zaštite okoliša. Te su politike, pak, povezane s još jednim skupom kontradikcija u zapadnjačkoj biocentričnoj zaštiti koja (pogrešno) esencijalizira prirodu i isključuje ljudsku prisutnost iz rezervata. Rezultati istraživanja iz dviju udaljenih regija smještenih u kritičnim biomima za očuvanje u Brazilu sažeto su prikazani da bi se ilustrirale različite vrste kontradikcija između etničkih teritorija i očuvanja okoliša. Zaključno se predlaže relacijska istraživačka agenda kojom se izbjegavaju zamke esencijaliziranoga identiteta i prirode

Nature's Metropolis e a ecologia política

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