Spaces for Transdisciplinary Dialogues on the Relationship between Local Communities and Their Environment
The Case of a Rural Community in the Calchaquí Valley (Salta, Argentina)
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Abstract
Our ethnographic research focuses on the perception and use of components of the natural environment in terms of routine activities carried out by the residents of a rural community in the Calchaqui Valley (Salta, Argentina). Life in this community is characterised by the presence of traditional subsistence activities – agriculture, cattle farming, textile manufacturing and ancestral medical practices – coexisting with business ventures focused on mono-culture and export, tourism centred on landscape intervention and promotion of native products, and the growing key role of public policies in the areas of health and human development. In this context, a joint reflection on viability and sustainability of local and global practices and resources must be undertaken. Implementing intersectoral forums and focus-group discussions, governmental and non-governmental actors, researchers and local people must work conjointly to achieve a fresh patrimonial awareness of livelihood strategies based on their long interaction with a specific environment.
Contributor Notes
Marta Crivos is Professor of Theoretical Orientations in Anthropology, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de La Plata. She is a researcher at Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Laboratory of Research in Applied Ethnography. Her research focuses on interactions between human communities and their natural environment. E-mail: martacrivos@yahoo.com.ar
María Rosa Martínez is Professor of South American Ethnography, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de La Plata. She is currently at the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Laboratory of Research in Applied Ethnography. Her research focuses on the role of intergenerational relationships in environmental-issues management in rural populations. E-mail: mrmart49@gmail.com
Laura Teves is Professor of Theoretical Orientations in Anthropology. She is at the Laboratory of Research in Applied Ethnography and her research focuses on network analysis in ethnography and the role of personal networks in the articulation of micro/macro social processes. E-mail: lteves@fcnym.unlp.edu.ar
Carolina Remorini is Professor of South American Ethnography, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata. She is a researcher at Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Laboratory of Research in Applied Ethnography. Her research focuses on the cross-cultural study of child development. E-mail: carolina.remorini@gmail.com