Atmospheric Politics: Negotiating Climate Change in The
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ATMOSPHERIC POLITICS: NEGOTIATING CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE BOLIVIAN HIGHLANDS by Clayton Abel Whitt B.S., California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, 2004 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Anthropology) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) March 2017 © Clayton Abel Whitt, 2017 Abstract This dissertation examines the experiences of farmers and herders in the highlands of Bolivia’s central Andes, or Altiplano, as they face and respond to climate change and other environmental problems. This work is based on 12 months of fieldwork among Quechua- and Spanish-speaking people in a rural municipality called El Choro, located on the floodplain of the Desaguadero River and just north of Lake Poopó. Bolivia is already suffering impacts from climate change, including shifting precipitation patterns, such as floods and droughts that disrupt agriculture. The government of Evo Morales and the MAS party has positioned itself to be an international leader in the fight against climate change while also continuing to pursue wealth at the hands of high impact extractive industries such as hydrocarbons and minerals. This dissertation, then, is an attempt to take a closer view of one community that is simultaneously beset by the consequences of climate change and water pollution but also is presented with new opportunities for economic development and new investments by the government. I explore how environmental experiences and politics are entangled in different ways and the types of material and spatial linkages that refract politics through the changing environment and vice versa. I trace the spatial politics of climate change and other environmental transformations by focusing in on people’s daily experiences with environmental phenomena such as mud, floods, droughts, and lightning strikes. I draw on spatial theories, such as Doreen Massey’s conceptualization of space as composed of a multiplicity of intersecting trajectories, and affect theory, especially Baruch Spinoza’s notion of bodies affecting other bodies by increasing or decreasing their capacity to act. I use these theories to draw out a conceptualization of what I call atmospheric politics, which emerge in the material interactions of daily life. I argue that atmospheric politics manifest in people’s day-to- day negotiations with their changing environments. These negotiations reflect mutual entanglement between people and environments that open to a multiplicity of possibilities, despite the grim futures prognosticated under climate change. ii Preface This dissertation represents original work by Clayton Whitt, who is the sole author and designed, performed, and analyzed all research herein. All photographs appearing in this work were taken by Clayton Whitt. All translations of source materials and transcripts from Spanish to English are by Clayton Whitt. Any errors are the responsibility of Clayton Whitt alone. This research was approved by the UBC Behavioural Research Ethics Board under the title “Climate Change and Spatial Transformations in the Bolivian Highlands,” Certificate Number H13-01219 (Principal Investigator: Dr. Gastón Gordillo). A version of Chapter 5 has been accepted for publication in Territory Beyond Terra, edited by Kimberley Peters, Philip Steinberg, and Elaine Stratford, forthcoming with Rowman & Littlefield International. iii Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ii Preface ........................................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. vii List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................. viii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... ix Dedication ..................................................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1: Introduction – Atmospheric Politics .........................................................................1 1.1 Climate Change, Evo Morales, and Neoextractivismo ................................................. 11 1.2 Working in El Choro ..................................................................................................... 18 1.3 Moving Toward Atmospheric Politics .......................................................................... 25 1.4 Chapter Overview ......................................................................................................... 32 Chapter 2: Intersections in the Campo: Choreños on the Move ..............................................37 2.1 Andean Nodes and Constellations ................................................................................ 41 2.2 From Uru to Aymara to Quechua ................................................................................. 43 2.3 Choreños on the Move .................................................................................................. 49 2.3.1 “Every road is welcome” .......................................................................................... 50 2.3.2 ”We made sure that we were counted” ..................................................................... 59 2.3.3 Living Close to Home ............................................................................................... 67 2.3.4 Brunilda and Eduardo ............................................................................................... 69 2.3.5 Emilio ........................................................................................................................ 72 iv 2.3.6 “El alcalde es E.T.” ................................................................................................... 77 2.4 Conclusion: A Community in Flux ............................................................................... 81 Chapter 3: “All We Can Do is Hope for Rain” – Agricultural Unease in a Changing Climate ..........................................................................................................................................83 3.1 Greening the Altiplano .................................................................................................. 87 3.2 Agricultural Unease ...................................................................................................... 93 3.2.1 Turning Desert Back into Desert .............................................................................. 93 3.2.2 “Our Children Have Left” ....................................................................................... 101 3.2.3 Quinoa Strains ......................................................................................................... 108 3.3 Conclusion: “If You Give Nothing, You Receive Nothing” ...................................... 114 Chapter 4: Agua Es Vida (y Muerte) – Water and Rhythmic Disjuncture ...........................120 4.1 “Each Drop of Water is Life” ..................................................................................... 124 4.2 “Desapareció El Lago Poopó” .................................................................................... 127 4.3 Dry Island, Dry Rivers, Endless Floods...................................................................... 137 4.4 Conclusion: Rhythmic Disjuncture ............................................................................. 147 Chapter 5: Fluid Terrain – Climate Change, Mud, and Territory .......................................149 5.1 Mud and Climate Change ........................................................................................... 153 5.2 Terrain and Affect ....................................................................................................... 155 5.3 The Contested Road .................................................................................................... 160 5.4 Conclusion: Muddy Clashes ....................................................................................... 172 Chapter 6: Rayos Caídos – Fear and Fragility Under the Open Sky ....................................175 6.1 “Lightning didn’t used to scare me…” ....................................................................... 180 6.2 Una Muerte Instantánea .............................................................................................. 186 v 6.3 Hopes and Fears under the Open Sky ......................................................................... 191 6.4 Scream and Turn Off Your Cellphones ...................................................................... 196 6.5 Conclusion: Atmospheric Tensions ............................................................................ 204 Chapter 7: Climate of Uncertainty – Looking Toward the Future .......................................206 7.1 Looking Backward and Forward ................................................................................ 211 7.1.1 “We can recover this knowledge,