Developementalism and territorial contradictions in the context of a water and environmental crises in Sierras Chicas, Córdoba, Argentina

Abstract

In this article, we analyse the ways in which different groups and institutions in Sierras Chicas, province of Córdoba, Argentina, follow a set of strategies regarding territorial planning in order to avoid or mitigate the
effects of what they call developmentalism, a process that is conceived as the primary cause of the water crises and environmental degradation that occurs for nearly a decade in this region. Based on some concepts of critical
geography and some contributions of the anthropological theory of classifications, we reflect on the contradictions between different territorial logics and dynamics present this context. Through an ethnographic approach, that
is, considering the actors perspective as part of the analysis, we describe, in the first place, the meanings of what is locally called developementalism; second, we analyse the strategies that these actors propose in order to mitigate its environmental impacts, primary those relative to de creation of new conservation areas such as hydro-ecological protection areas that enter into contradiction with other type of territories