IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envirc/v41y2023i5p1010-1028.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Imaginaries of place in territorialization processes: Transforming the Oyacachi páramos through nature conservation and water transfers in the Ecuadorian highlands

Author

Listed:
  • Rossana Manosalvas
  • Jaime Hoogesteger
  • Rutgerd Boelens

Abstract

How Ecuadorian páramos are perceived has drastically changed over the last five decades. From cold, hostile, and unproductive hinterlands, páramos have changed to become areas for biodiversity conservation and ‘water towers’ that ought to be protected to provide clean and abundant water for cities and irrigation. To understand how these changing perceptions of páramos relate to interventions and their on-the-ground negotiation by local communities, we develop the notion of imaginaries of place and explore its relations to notions of governmentality and territorialization. We show how, based on changing imaginaries of what páramos are, state and non-state interventions have tried to control the Oyacachi páramos in the Northern Ecuadorian Highlands for the specific purpose of nature and water conservation. At the same time, we show that these interventions are highly contested on-the-ground. This leads to confrontations, negotiations, and a re-definition of the imaginaries of place there exist. Our analysis expounds the relevance of understanding imaginaries of place and its close relations to interventions and their negotiation.

Suggested Citation

  • Rossana Manosalvas & Jaime Hoogesteger & Rutgerd Boelens, 2023. "Imaginaries of place in territorialization processes: Transforming the Oyacachi páramos through nature conservation and water transfers in the Ecuadorian highlands," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 41(5), pages 1010-1028, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:41:y:2023:i:5:p:1010-1028
    DOI: 10.1177/23996544231168050
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/23996544231168050
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/23996544231168050?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jean Carlo Rodríguez-de-Francisco & Rutgerd Boelens, 2016. "PES hydrosocial territories: de-territorialization and re-patterning of water control arenas in the Andean highlands," Water International, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(1), pages 140-156, January.
    2. Lena Hommes & Rutgerd Boelens & Leila M. Harris & Gert Jan Veldwisch, 2019. "Rural–urban water struggles: urbanizing hydrosocial territories and evolving connections, discourses and identities," Water International, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(2), pages 81-94, February.
    3. Paul Hoogendam, 2019. "Hydrosocial territories in the context of diverse and changing ruralities: the case of Cochabamba’s drinking water provision over time," Water International, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(2), pages 129-147, February.
    4. Fletcher, Robert & Büscher, Bram, 2017. "The PES Conceit: Revisiting the Relationship between Payments for Environmental Services and Neoliberal Conservation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 224-231.
    5. Bibiana Duarte-Abadía & Rutgerd Boelens, 2016. "Disputes over territorial boundaries and diverging valuation languages: the Santurban hydrosocial highlands territory in Colombia," Water International, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(1), pages 15-36, January.
    6. Rutgerd Boelens & Jaime Hoogesteger & Erik Swyngedouw & Jeroen Vos & Philippus Wester, 2016. "Hydrosocial territories: a political ecology perspective," Water International, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(1), pages 1-14, January.
    7. Jaime Hoogesteger & Rutgerd Boelens & Michiel Baud, 2016. "Territorial pluralism: water users’ multi-scalar struggles against state ordering in Ecuador’s highlands," Water International, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(1), pages 91-106, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jichuan Sheng & Xiao Han, 2023. "Constructing payments for ecosystem services hydrosocial territories through assemblage practices: China’s Xin’an river basin eco-compensation pilot," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 41(2), pages 375-391, March.
    2. Sarah Rogers & Mark Wang, 2020. "Producing a Chinese hydrosocial territory: A river of clean water flows north from Danjiangkou," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 38(7-8), pages 1308-1327, November.
    3. William Skinner & Georgina Drew & Douglas K. Bardsley, 2023. "“Half a flood’s no good”: flooding, viticulture, and hydrosocial terroir in a South Australian wine region," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(2), pages 549-564, June.
    4. Vos, Jeroen & Boelens, Rutgerd & Venot, Jean-Philippe & Kuper, Marcel, 2020. "Rooted water collectives: Towards an analytical framework," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    5. Dupuits, Emilie & Baud, Michiel & Boelens, Rutgerd & de Castro, Fabio & Hogenboom, Barbara, 2020. "Scaling up but losing out? Water commons' dilemmas between transnational movements and grassroots struggles in Latin America," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    6. Cooke, Benjamin & Corbo-Perkins, Gabriella, 2018. "Co-opting and resisting market based instruments for private land conservation," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 172-181.
    7. Ellen Banzhaf & Sally Anderson & Gwendoline Grandin & Richard Hardiman & Anne Jensen & Laurence Jones & Julius Knopp & Gregor Levin & Duncan Russel & Wanben Wu & Jun Yang & Marianne Zandersen, 2022. "Urban-Rural Dependencies and Opportunities to Design Nature-Based Solutions for Resilience in Europe and China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-25, March.
    8. Daniele T. P. Souza & Eugenia A. Kuhn & Arjen E. J. Wals & Pedro R. Jacobi, 2020. "Learning in, with, and through the Territory: Territory-Based Learning as a Catalyst for Urban Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-19, April.
    9. Garrett, R.D. & Grabs, J. & Cammelli, F. & Gollnow, F. & Levy, S.A., 2022. "Should payments for environmental services be used to implement zero-deforestation supply chain policies? The case of soy in the Brazilian Cerrado," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    10. Sandra Ricart & Antonio M. Rico-Amorós, 2022. "Can agriculture and conservation be compatible in a coastal wetland? Balancing stakeholders’ narratives and interactions in the management of El Hondo Natural Park, Spain," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 39(2), pages 589-604, June.
    11. Buchs, Arnaud & Calvo-Mendieta, Iratxe & Petit, Olivier & Roman, Philippe, 2021. "Challenging the ecological economics of water: Social and political perspectives," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    12. Filippo Menga & Michael K. Goodman, 2022. "The High Priests of Global Development: Capitalism, Religion and the Political Economy of Sacrifice in a Celebrity‐led Water Charity," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 53(4), pages 705-735, July.
    13. Ruth Zárate Rueda & Yolima Ivonne Beltrán Villamizar & Luis Eduardo Becerra Ardila, 2023. "Neo-Extractivism and Formalization of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining—The Case of the Santurbán Moorland (Colombia)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-16, July.
    14. Paing, Win Min & Han, Phyu Phyu & Ota, Masahiko & Fujiwara, Takahiro, 2023. "The state-private hybrid forest policy in Myanmar: The impact of neoliberalism on the forestry sector after the 1990s," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    15. Sheng, Jichuan & Qiu, Wenge & Han, Xiao, 2020. "China’s PES-like horizontal eco-compensation program: Combining market-oriented mechanisms and government interventions," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    16. Astrid B Stensrud, 2019. "The social embeddedness of hydraulic engineers in the regulation of water and infrastructure in Peru," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 37(7), pages 1235-1251, November.
    17. Leonhard Klinck & Kingsley K. Ayisi & Johannes Isselstein, 2022. "Drought-Induced Challenges and Different Responses by Smallholder and Semicommercial Livestock Farmers in Semiarid Limpopo, South Africa—An Indicator-Based Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-14, July.
    18. Matías Calderón-Seguel & Manuel Prieto & Oliver Meseguer-Ruiz & Freddy Viñales & Paulina Hidalgo & Elías Esper, 2021. "Mining, Urban Growth, and Agrarian Changes in the Atacama Desert: The Case of the Calama Oasis in Northern Chile," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-21, November.
    19. Kolinjivadi, Vijay, 2019. "Avoiding dualisms in ecological economics: Towards a dialectically-informed understanding of co-produced socionatures," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 32-41.
    20. Petrescu-Mag, Ruxandra Malina & Petrescu, Dacinia Crina & Azadi, Hossein, 2022. "From scythe to smartphone: Rural transformation in Romania evidenced by the perception of rural land and population," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:41:y:2023:i:5:p:1010-1028. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.