Environmental Stewardship and the Production of Subjectivities: Indigenous, Scientific, and Economic Rationalities in Ancash, Peru
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ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP AND THE PRODUCTION OF SUBJECTIVITIES: INDIGENOUS, SCIENTIFIC, AND ECONOMIC RATIONALITIES IN ANCASH, PERU By Rowenn Beth Kalman A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Anthropology—Doctor of Philosophy 2017 ABSTRACT ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP AND THE PRODUCTION OF SUBJECTIVITIES: INDIGENOUS, SCIENTIFIC, AND ECONOMIC RATIONALITIES IN ANCASH, PERU By Rowenn Beth Kalman In the region of Ancash, Peru, rural farmers, NGO staff, state workers, and mine engineers all argue that environmental conciencia (consciousness) is crucial for protecting natural resources from pollution and overuse. However, they draw on different rationales of indigeneity, science, and economics to define what constitutes effective conservation and who has authority over nature. NGOs train rural farmers to be “environmental promoters” who monitor pollution and embrace ancestral (indigenous Andean) views of nature as they coordinate among mine companies, state authorities, and their fellow villagers. This dissertation argues that promoter training reflects an attempt to create environmental subjects—those who view the stewardship of nature as necessary for resource preservation (Agrawal 2005)—but that differently situated subjects decide to protect nature for different reasons. Through community- based stewardship, promoters and other actors draw from the multiple discourses of conciencia (indigenous, scientific, and economic) to dispute both state-sanctioned and private sector authority, articulating competing ideas of environmental management. This argument departs from previous analyses of decentralization and environmental governance that suggest community stewardship initiatives lead marginal resource users into deeper compliance with a singular, state-sanctioned logic. Further, existing scholarship on environmental subjectivity does not consider how other dimensions of subjectivity are engaged and reconstructed through processes cultivating environmental subjects. In Ancash, actors continuously re-situate themselves in different ways with respect to gender, ethnicity, scientific expertise, and economic incentives according to their own priorities. Some resource users (including rural indigenous women) have been less able to participate in debates over stewardship, but are symbolically central to indigenous constructions of it. In analyzing the context of competing discourses and multifaceted subjectivities involved in environmental stewardship, this dissertation advances a new scholarly approach to subjectivity and environmental governance that illuminates inequalities and explains how and why rural stewards participate in diverse, strategic, and sometimes ambivalent ways. Copyright by ROWENN BETH KALMAN 2017 For my parents, Luis, and Aisley v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the support and collaborative spirit of many. The Campesino Community of Vicos welcomed me and showed me their spirit of generosity from my first visit in 2004, facilitated by the tourism cooperative Cuyaqui Wayi. I owe special gratitude to my compadres Avito and Margarita, Augustin and Julia, and Irma and Roger for their hospitality and assistance over the years. My dear friend Rosa also frequently fed me and engaged me in her daily activities. The community leaders during the years 2010 and 2011 were especially generous in facilitating various aspects of this research amid their many other responsibilities. Thank you, Vicosinos, for your patience with my fumbling, whether it resulted in embarrassing mistakes in Quechua or escaped pigs. It was an honor to live and learn among you. The Mountain Institute and Asociación Urpichallay were welcoming and supportive of my work over the years, and I am especially grateful to their directors, Dr. Jorge Recharte and Eduardo Castro Suárez, respectively, and to their staff members who took time to speak with me about their work and ideas. The members of the Red Regional de Comités Ambientales de Ancash embraced me as an honorary member and I hope that my contributions to their activities proved valuable to them. The Center for Social Wellbeing in Carhuaz was like another home for me, and I benefitted tremendously from the hospitality and wisdom of Dr. Patricia Hammer and Flor de María Barreto Tosi. The staff of the Huascarán National Park office also assisted me frequently with conversations and information. Numerous other institutions in Peru opened their doors to me, and I continue to be grateful. vi This project would not have been possible without training and assistance in Quechua. Instruction at the Center for Social Wellbeing, Centro Tinku, and the University of Michigan prepared me to converse in Quechua, and I am grateful for my excellent instructors Edith, Rosalia, Martín, Vilma, Cesar, and Humberto. My field assistants Carmen, Hermelinda, Inés, Consuelo, and Octavia hiked hills and sat in the hot sun to navigate, translate, and facilitate my communication with highland residents. Alfredo, Jacinto, and Inés each helped me transcribe, and I am especially grateful to Alfredo, who undertook many hours of translation and transcription in Quechua and was always willing to discuss the nuances of specific terms and phrases. At MSU, the Department of Anthropology, Center for Gender in Global Context (GenCen), Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS), and Center for Advanced Study of International Development (CASID), and International Studies and Programs (ISP) all supported my graduate scholarship both financially and intellectually. Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships from CASID and GenCen funded my language training in Quechua. Predissertation research was funded by two grants, one from ISP and one from The Tinker Foundation (administered through CLACS). My long-term fieldwork was made possible by a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship, and I wish to thank the Fulbright Program for honoring me with such an opportunity. Finally, I wish to further acknowledge the Department of Anthropology and GenCen for financial support while writing this dissertation in the form of department funding and a Gender, Justice, and Environmental Change Dissertation Completion Fellowship, respectively. MSU provided an outstanding environment for professional development and intellectual comradery. As a graduate student I was treated as a junior peer by MSU’s faculty. I am also vii grateful to my graduate school peers, writing group members, and MSU alumni for their efforts reviewing and editing my work over the years, as well as for their moral support. Thank you to Anna, Becca, James, Cris, Taz, Meryem, Baranda, Adrianne, Kimme, Lynnette, Heather, Andrea, Fredy, Charlotte, Keri, Deon, and Seven for your peer reviews. I also wish to thank Adrianne Daggett, who made my wonderful maps. My committee members Laurie Medina, Anne Ferguson, Brandt Peterson, Andrea Allen, and Lucero Radonic were extraordinary mentors who pushed my thinking to new levels. Laurie was endlessly patient and generous with her time from the very inception of this project. Her mentorship went above and beyond, with replies to late night emails and responses to last-minute changes mere hours before deadlines. She has held me to a high standard throughout this process and has made me a better scholar. I am grateful for Anne’s mentorship in the Gender, Justice, and Environmental Change specialization where she taught me to apply feminist approaches to research on environment and development. She also repeatedly found work opportunities for me at GenCen where I could apply this training and learn more. Brandt nurtured my interests in neoliberalism, government, and Latin America through Anthropology courses and one-on-one readings, challenging me to bring different theoretical perspectives to bear on issues of indigenous subjectivity. Andrea guided me towards a deeper engagement with the Andeanist literature and has always provided feedback that helps me write clearly and concretely. Lucero, who joined my committee during the writing stage, has guided me towards stronger, more confident argumentation and a clearer presentation of my methods and analysis. Florence Babb read and commented on this dissertation as well as my previous work, and I am honored by her sustained interest in my scholarship. viii This research journey truly began with my Master’s thesis on tourism in Vicos, so I also wish to acknowledge my mentors at Western Washington University: Joyce Hammond, James Loucky, and Joan Stevenson. Joyce Hammond was a wonderful mentor who inspired my love for this discipline, for feminist research, and for ethnography. In many ways, this dissertation project grew from curiosities that she helped me cultivate. Finally, it was my family that made this journey possible in the first place and successful in the end. My parents supported my intellectual pursuits from a young age and have remained a constant source of encouragement and inspiration in all circumstances. The support of my life partner, Luis, has meant so much. He willingly took on a range of tasks during the research and writing stages of this dissertation and through his own labor helped me produce these pages. His faith in me and commitment to my professional journey continues to astound me. ix PREFACE A Note on Translation and Representation: The arguments in this dissertation rely on the analysis of recorded and unrecorded speech as well