SpringerBriefs in Latin American Studies – serie

This book presents the characteristics and limitations of geological units, Cenozoic and geochronological concepts. It studies landscape aspects developed from research in areas with proved Cenozoic tectonic activity, such as the Potiguar basin, located between the states of Ceara and Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. The analytical focus involves the relationship between tectonics and landscapes in different scales, in hills or karsts, or regional, in basins, and massifs.

This book intends to present the development of socio-spatial practices in the metropolitan coast of the Northeast of Brazil, highlighting the main urban, spa and tourist agglomerations: Salvador-BA, Recife-PE, Fortaleza-CE, and Natal-RN. The objective is to study the processes of urbanization associated with maritime leisure.In the first chapter, the reader will find a historical and conceptual presentation highlighting the relevance of leisure practices, their forms-flows and their role in the formation of maritime resorts. The second chapter analyses the context of the northeastern region of Brazil and demonstrates the process of modernization and formation of the seaside function within the cities, and later, in the maritime metropolises of the region. The relationship between urbanization and touristic real estate ventures is the central theme of the third chapter, which proposes a specific methodology for studies of this nature. The final chapter presents the seaside resorts in the metropolitan area of Fortaleza, a case study similar to others in the Northeast, examining the urbanistic effects and the key ideas of the planners.

This book provides in-depth insights into the construction of the first road to reach riparian communities and the main access point to a national park in the Amazonian rain forest. It is based on an ethnographic investigation in Peru’s Manu Province in the Amazon, which explored diverse local attitudes towards the construction of a road in the overlapping buffer zone of two protected areas: the Manu National Park and the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve. The book reveals the applicability of Harvey and Knox’s concept of ‘enchantments of infrastructure’ in the case of first roads, but also makes accessible wider debates in political ecology such as territoriality and frontier development. The promise of first roads sparks feelings of aspiration and anticipation of the advent of development through speedy travel, economic connectivity and political integration. Yet these developments seldom take shape as expected. The author explores the perspectives, social dynamicsand political maneuvers that influence first road building processes in the Amazon, which have applicability to experiences and strategies of road development elsewhere.

This book interrogates the impact of tourism on local lives and environments along the southern Pacific Coast of Nicaragua. Nicaragua has turned to tourism to earn needed foreign exchange and to provide jobs. The unplanned boom, however, has come with costs to local environments. Using an in-depth case study of the community of Gigante and nearby tourism developments, the chapters delve into the impact of recent unregulated booms in tourism on groundwater, household water security, local economies, culture, land ownership, and artisanal fisheries.

This book applies an approach to study the externalization of cost under capitalism in the production of Argentine yerba mate, an infusion with stimulant properties long used by indigenous peoples. Consumption in today’s globalized economy makes it difficult to understand the consequences of our actions across the globe. A political-ecological lens, informed by the work of Robert Sack and Ian Cook, can help guide an analysis that geographically reconstructs supply chains and reveal the realities of consumption. The use of yerba mate has become a cornerstone of Argentine society and identity, and yerba mate processors are working to expand exports globally. In Argentina’s Misiones Province, the heart of yerba mate production, the true costs of production are borne by the children, the impoverished laborers, and the environment of Argentina’s Atlantic Rainforest. These consequences of modernity, along with the efforts of an NGO to remedy them, are presented and assessed.

The book considers desertification as a cause-effect of environmental degradation that causes global environmental changes and the current climate crisis. Desertification affects sustainability and is one of the most severe socio-environmental problems on a global, regional, and local scale and in magnitude.It is a complex and interdisciplinary phenomenon with socioeconomic, historical, and ecological aspects. The book dealt with themes such as “Anthropocene and limits of balance on Earth; Global Environmental Changes, Climate Crisis; Desertification: concepts, myths, and reality; Causes and impacts in the world,” considering international technical-scientific assumptions guided by historical, practical, and conceptual issues.Currently, desertification (land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and sub-humid regions, resulting from various factors, such as climate variations and human activities) occurs in different continents and associates with land use and environmental and climate changes. This is a question of interest to the political management of the territory.The compendium goes beyond the conceptual approach and brings case studies with depth and a holistic view. Watersheds, for example, were treated as synthesis cells of environmental assessments and territorial units to develop public policies to manage natural resources and mitigate soil salinization and geochemical contamination.Besides the correlation between desertification and climate as a natural design, its harmful consequences for the planet are correlated with the most affected areas associated with poverty, environmental conflicts, and land tenure. The book considers several studies and a wealth of qualitative and quantitative data, pointing out about 3.6 billion hectares affected and more than 2.6 billion people affected worldwide.Desertification areas demand priority attention and greater scientific clarification not contaminated by other interests, surpassing the boundaries of sectorial and empirical explanation and not dissociated from natural x human processes. The book proposes to be holistic with an assessment of the totality!

This book examines the complex relationship between energy use, economic growth, and the environment, focusing on Argentina and its relevance to other Latin American countries and developing economies. It offers an interdisciplinary approach and policy recommendations to reconcile efforts to reduce, adapt, and mitigate climate change with sustainable development goals. Its interdisciplinary effort includes two chapters that lay on the intersection between Behavioral Science and climate change, highlighting the use of behavioral science to understand society's actions concerning climate change and how to reverse biases and promote more sustainable behaviors. The book also includes a unique contribution from undergraduate students, reflecting the growing demand of younger generations for intergenerational justice and concrete actions to protect the environment.With a broad audience in mind, including academics, researchers, policymakers, and the general publicinterested in climate change, energy, and sustainable development, this volume offers a distinctive perspective not found in other publications.

This book studies the transformation of modern maritimity practices in coastal areas (such as swimming, navigation and tourism) and their implications to the development of Brazilian coastal cities, with an emphasis on the Northeast part of the country. It is a reflection on coastal geography in the tropics and the contemporary valorization of coastal cities from a socioeconomic, technological and symbolical point of view. The book highlights local fluxes on a regional and local scale, showing the incorporation of beach zones to spaces which were previously associated with so called traditional coastal practices (fishing activities and as harboring points). This book is dedicated to geography researchers and students.

This book analyses the development of geography as a scientific discipline in Brazil, highlighting how the established partnerships with French geographers have helped shape scientific progress in the country. It connects economic development and politics with the study of geography in Brazil. The author, José Borzacchiello da Silva, includes interviews with renowned French geographers, documenting their insight into the French contribution to geography in Brazil. The research partnerships established have been significant to the foundation and growth of the discipline in the country.

The book reflects on the current dimensions of tourism and patrimony in Brazil. It presents cultural realities as resources for the resolution of tensions between different communities and the establishment of their identities. The book also presents memories and forgotten traditions that are important in the representation of places and cultures. It questions religious systems and their dynamic interface with the occupation of cultural spaces and the interpretation of touristic practices in Brazil. The topics discussed include pilgrimages, sanctuaries, symbolic vectors, and religious festivals.

Using the case of the Chixoy Hydroelectric Dam in Guatemala, constructed between 1978 and 1983, this book examines the effects of displacement on the former residents of Río Negro, a community forcibly evicted and nearly eliminated by the military and paramilitary. Using open-ended interview discussions and testimonies, it focuses on this specific incident of displacement and violence and discusses the outcomes 30 years later. Guatemala’s history is plagued by development projects that resulted in displacement, violence, and increased marginalization of its indigenous and non-indigenous populations. In order to make way for development initiatives such as the production of bananas, African palm, coffee and sugar cane; the extraction of metals such as gold and nickel; or, in this specific case, the construction of a hydroelectric dam, the land-based, predominately Maya campesinos have been systematically uprooted from the lands of their birth and launched into uncertainty.Theresearch findings presented, based on fieldwork conducted from January to April 2009, suggest that the majority of survivors from the massacres that took place are still adversely affected by the destruction of their families and livelihoods. While the circumstances pertaining to this event are unique, similar struggles over land and human rights continue into the present — and if policies remain unchanged, in both international development agencies as well as the Guatemalan government, clashes of this nature only increase in time.

This book analyzes the most important geohydrological aspects of the San Jorge Gulf Basin (Chubut and Santa Cruz provinces, Argentine Patagonia), with a particular focus on the physical and hydrodynamic characteristics of the system. Discovered in 1907, the San Jorge Gulf Basin was the first petroleum and gas-producing basin in Argentina. It is also one of the most important areas with real prospects for non-conventional exploitation (shale oil-gas). After characterizing the hydroclimatic background (hydrometeorological parameters and water balance), the book describes the main physical aspects: geomorphology, soils and surface as well as subsoil geology, especially lithology, structures, stratigraphy and hydrogeology.

This book describes the pottery trade activities of the residents of the community of San Bartolomé de los Olleros in Piura, Peru. Based on extensive interviews with potters and traders, it explains why the barter of pots continues to be practiced, and explores how pottery production and exchange practices may now be changing. The book provides a unique and detailed analysis of the interconnections between handicraft production, rural trade networks, and agriculture in an Andean context. Pots are mainly bartered for food crops within a non-monetary peasant economy distinct from the “conventional” market. This practice is an important food source for pottery traders; thus trader livelihoods are placed at the center of this qualitative study of pottery distribution. Of primary importance are: 1) the decision-making processes surrounding exchange activities, 2) how exchange choices produce distinct spatial patterns, and 3) how the marketing of pots impacts livelihoods.

This book offers an analysis of the territory of Barcarena, in the Brazilian Amazon. The author studies the land use and the implemented modernization policies that made it one of the richest cities of the state. The political system uses this territory as a resource to provide for the needs of a small circle of social agents. A system of conservative political actions enforces the process of modernization of the Baracena territory. Innovations in the Barcarena territory, such as the implementation of the aluminium factory Albras/Alunorte and the territorial configuration or public administration, lead to modernization simulations and artificial devices. The intended effect however is more about appearing to be modern, than actual modernization. The territorial use of Barcarena is aimed to protect the interests and privileges of the elite.

This book explores the mediated struggles for autonomy, land rights and social justice in a context of growing authoritarianism and persistent coloniality in Nicaragua. To do so, it draws on in-depth fieldwork, analysis of media texts, and decolonial and other cultural theories. There are two main threats to the authoritarian rule of the Nicaraguan government led by Daniel Ortega: the first is the Managua-based NGO and civil society sector led largely by educated dissident Sandinistas, and the second is the escalating struggle for autonomy and land rights being fought by Nicaragua’s indigenous and Afro-descended inhabitants on the country’s Caribbean coast. In order to confront these threats and, it seems, secure indefinite political tenure, the government engages in a set of centralizing and anti-democratic political strategies characterized by secrecy, institutional power grabs, highly suspect electoral practices, clientelistic anti-poverty programmes, and the control through purchase or co-optation of much of the nation's media. The social movements that threaten Ortega’s rule are however operating through dispersed and topological modalities of power and the creative use of emergent spaces for the circulation of counter-discourses and counter-narratives within a rapidly transforming media environment. The primary response to these mediated tactics is a politics of silence and a refusal to acknowledge or respond to the political claims made by social movements. In the current conjuncture, the authors identify a struggle for hegemony whose strategies and tactics include the citizenship-stripping activities of the state and the citizenship-claiming activities of black, indigenous and dissident actors and activists. This struggle plays out in part through the mediated circulation and counter-circulation of discourses and the infrastructural dynamics of media convergence.