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Researcher(s):
Lex Shapiro
ENVS course(s): 499 Initiated: January 2015 Completed: April 2016 Go to project site
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Background -
Our understandings of place are at the core of our perceptions of nature, and therefore we cannot attempt to understand one without the other. What gives a place its specificity is a mixture of its “long internalised and accumulated history” and, “the particular constellation of social relations, meeting and weaving together at a particular locus”. Time-space compression refers to, “movement and communication across space, to the geographical stretching-out of social relations, and to our experience of all this” (Massey 1991). The ways in which people are placed within ‘time-space compression’ is complex and varied. Issue arise, not because of globalization in itself, but because of the inevitability of “power-geometries”. Across the world, people are redefining their understandings of place and nature in the attempt to find a meaningful way of life.
Vivir Bien is a complex concept which unfolds in a wide variety of contexts due to its plurality. Deeply rooted in indigenous Andean tradition, the discourse has become a tool for those searching for “viable alternatives to the conventional model” and for decolonization (Hollender 2012). The Transition movement is an international example of a grassroots initiative on the search for ecological, social, and economic resilience. Although initiated by individuals, the movement relies on its interdependence with and support from its global network.
Samaipata, home to 4,000 residents, is a small municipality in the Santa Cruz region of Bolivia. For many reasons, the community of Samaipata is unique and unlike most in Bolivia. Last year (2015), Samaipata brought the transition movement to their community, and is the first and only Bolivian transition town.
Key Questions -
How have trends associated with globalization affected people’s understandings and perceptions of nature and place?
Has the implementation of the Transition movement in Samaipata influenced resident’s perceptions of nature and place?
Methodology -
Through a combination of participant observation and formal and informal interviews I created an ethnographic film during my time spent in Samaipata. Once returning I combined the insights I'd gained from my own research with an extensive literature review in order to create a poster as my final outcome.
Findings -
Samaipateños’ perceptions of nature and place have been influenced and constructed by their relations, experiences and understandings of both the past and the present, the local and the global. Their fusion of the traditional, Vivir Bien, and the global, Transition show how our perceptions of nature and place are continuously being made and remade. We must therefore be accepting of these shifting paradigms and constant flux.