Paisajes del despojo cotidiano: acaparamiento de tierra y agua en Montes de María, Colombia

Abstract

The phenomena of landgrabbing and monopolizing of water sources have gained increasing attention in recent years. Nevertheless, very few studies have dealt with the problem of the grabbing and concentration of resources from an ethnographic perspective that would make it possible to illustrate the different ways in which dispossession takes place, as well as its concrete mechanisms and effects in particular historical, geographic and political contexts. This article makes a critical contribution to the relevant literature. Based on the specific case of the area of Montes de María, located in the Caribbean region of Colombia, it shows how the violent forms of dispossession are produced and maintained by everyday dynamics. Through the analysis of i) the imagined geographies of the region, ii) the implementation of development projects, iii) the processes of privatization of water resources, and iv) the configuration of spaces of fear, this study illustrates how the landscapes of everyday dispossession in the region are produced. In this way, it seeks to contribute to the research on socio-environmental conflicts and to break into the narrative of post-conflict in the region.

Keywords

• Landscapes
• dispossession
• everyday
• landgrabbing
• violence
• Montes de María
• Colombia