From Wetland to Saltland: Natural Obstacles and Socioecological Consequences in the Production of Solar Salt in Venezuela

Document Type

Article

Department or Administrative Unit

Geography

Publication Date

3-7-2017

Abstract

This article provides a critical analysis of the process involved in transforming small-scale artisanal production of solar salt into large-scale industrial production by Produsal in Los Olivitos Wildlife Refuge and Fishing Reserve in Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela. In doing so, it highlights the socioecological impacts resulting from this process in the wetland and the fishing community of Ancón de Iturre. Using political economy of nature as a theoretical framework, especially notions of the formal subsumption of nature, materiality of natural resources, and the commodification of nature, this article explores how the biophysical characteristic of salt and the ecosystem where it is contained present a specific set of natural obstacles for its production; the different strategies used by Produsal to overcome these obstacles; and the social and ecological contradictions embedded in the process.

Comments

This article was originally published in Society & Natural Resources. The full-text article from the publisher can be found here.

Due to copyright restrictions, this article is not available for free download from ScholarWorks @ CWU.

Journal

Society & Natural Resources

Rights

© 2017 Taylor & Francis

Link to Full Text
Contact Author

Share

COinS