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Mining Sacred Space: Law's Enactment of Competing Ontologies in the American West

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  • Melinda Harm Benson

    (Department of Geography, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001, USA)

Abstract

Current controversies regarding uranium mining in the American West are about more than competing legal requirements; they are about competing conceptualizations of space that are grounded in different ontologies. Laws—in this case the General Mining Law of 1872 and the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966—play a performative role by enacting and materializing these ontologies. The occupation of New Mexico's Mt. Taylor both by ‘old’ and by ‘new’ legal forms provides an opportunity to examine their corresponding spatiality. The National Historic Preservation Act, in particular, creates an interesting ‘new space’ that may have the capacity to challenge Eurocentric notions of ownership.

Suggested Citation

  • Melinda Harm Benson, 2012. "Mining Sacred Space: Law's Enactment of Competing Ontologies in the American West," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 44(6), pages 1443-1458, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:44:y:2012:i:6:p:1443-1458
    DOI: 10.1068/a44579
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bang, Guri, 2010. "Energy security and climate change concerns: Triggers for energy policy change in the United States?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 1645-1653, April.
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