RESUMEN Han surgido nuevas formas mercantilizadas de chamanismo en las comunidades Kichwa debido a la nueva afluencia de turistas interesados en las culturas indígenas de la Amazonía Ecuatoriana. Los ritos chamanicos son populares entre los turistas porque representan sus fantasías de la alteridad cultural, pero los intercambios económicos entre turistas y chamanes plantean problemas de legitimidad y autenticidad. El turismo privilegia los aspectos performativos de chamanismo más que las tradiciones que tradicionalmente han definido al chamán. Como consecuencia de ello, las comunidades Kichwa han visto un surgimiento de “nuevos” chamanes, que están capacitados en la actuación chamánica y tienen acceso a las plantas alucinógenas que se utilizan en el rito, pero les falta la formación apropiada, tradicionalmente asociada con hacerse chamán. En este contexto, el significado y la legitimidad de la vocación chamánica se contesta y se construye tanto intercultural como intraculturalmente.
Resumen En el Ecuador postneoliberal la ecopolítica esta flanqueada entre la extracción petrolífera y la minería, siendo el primer caso un ejemplo del fracaso de las políticas neoliberales, mientras el segundo es reflejo de las promesas populistas. Este artículo analiza cómo en Intag el activismo antiminería refleja este cambio en las políticas neoliberales desde un estado petrolero a un estado “nuevo y progresivo” que defiende una agenda prominería. En un sentido amplio, este artículo examina, por un lado, la forma en que la contraposición de estas divisiones ecopolíticas se movilizan en Ecuador con el propósito de producir un nuevo nacionalismo; y, por otro, cómo las subjetividades medioambientales existentes en distintos sectores se posicionan frente al estado. El análisis se centra en las representaciones y prácticas que dan forma a las subjetividades medioambientales de actores que, resistiendo la explotación de minas de cobre en sus tierras, operan simultáneamente a escala internacional, nacional y local y, por lo tanto, negocian múltiples –y en ocasiones contradictorios‐ significados respecto a los recursos naturales y su uso.
Around the world, we increasingly see the often-deemed incongruent activities of ecotourism, associated environmental conservation and natural resource or fossil fuel extraction happening in the same spaces, often supported by the same institutions. Rather than being incongruent, however, these seemingly uncomfortable bedfellows are transforming spaces, livelihoods and social, political and environmental geographies in tandem through what we call the 'ecotourism-extraction nexus' . Drawing on case studies from around the world, we show that physical, symbolic and historical aspects of environmentally induced displacements are an integral part of these transformations, though often in less than straightforward ways. The paper concludes that environmentally induced displacements are a key mechanism to understand why these seemingly uncomfortable bedfellows in empirical reality and within a broader context of capitalist modernity go together surprisingly well.
This article examines the nuances of different constructions and meanings of “natural resources” in Ecuador. Focusing on the biodiverse and copper-rich region of Intag, I show how once a process of commodification of natural materials is underway—in a place where the biophysical specificities of soil, minerals, and flora map onto extractive, as well as “green” economies of value—there is an emergence of what I call “metonymic materiality,” a discursive frame in which one particular aspect of material resources becomes iconic of the place, assuming dominant significance and value for the actors. Once such “dominant” materialities emerge, they may be contested through counter-discursive strategies, where other constitutive materialities are used to symbolize and promote alternative regimes of value. I present a “resource biography” of Intag, focusing on its emergence as an agricultural frontier, a copper treasury, and, finally, a place of rare and precious biodiversity. I analyze how the resource environments that emerge around these materialities overlap and supplant each other, relationally and dynamically.
Two unrelated indigenous rainforest cultures are compared in relationship to their experiences with the oil industry in their territories. Despite their geographic separation, in Central Africa and western Amazonia, the acculturation process and its outcomes have been quite similar for the Bagyeli and the Waorani. In both cases, expectations for improvements in quality of life were high as the oil industry arrived but tremendous disappointments soon followed. Typically, indigenous people blame oil companies for creating unrealistic scenarios and for not following through with promises. To get its future neighbors on board with coming changes, enticements are a frequent part of conversations prior to establishment of industrial infrastructure and operations. Subsequent to development, indigenous people feel that they have been drawn into a negative situation, that they end up essentially abandoned by their governments, and that the oil companies come through with only a minimal proportion of what was originally offered.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.