Consuming Space, Nature and Culture: Patrimonial Discussions in the Hyper-Modern Era

[EN] This paper reflects on what is called the process of ‘patrimonialization’ of culture and nature currently taking place in the Western mountainous inlands of the Spanish Eastern Pyrenees. Landscapes, as cultural and historical formations, are presently being commodified and connected to global n...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Vaccaro Ribó, Ismael, Beltran, Oriol
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2007
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:digitalcsic_::31791b8fb78a4b67c78e01323e9783fb
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/341360
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Spain
Pyrenees
Landscape
Land use
Globalization
Leisure economy
Espagne
Pyrénées
Paysage
Occupation des sols
Internationalisation
Économie des loisirs
Spanien
Pyrenäen
Landschaft
Landnutzung
Globalisierung
Freizeitwirtschaft
Descripción
Sumario:[EN] This paper reflects on what is called the process of ‘patrimonialization’ of culture and nature currently taking place in the Western mountainous inlands of the Spanish Eastern Pyrenees. Landscapes, as cultural and historical formations, are presently being commodified and connected to global networks of consumption dominated by urban and ‘postmaterialistic’ values. Conservation policies, ski resorts and cultural museums are mushrooming in previously ‘abandoned’ agricultural fields or vacated factories. This shift from agriculture, ranching and industry, to conservation and services marks the connection of the Pyrenean valleys to global modernity and to the hyper-modern era. These processes of transformation have been depicted generally as structural processes of unilateral redefinition of the urban–rural divide: redefinition that results in direct urban appropriation. Rural populations, however, are far from passive subjects of external influences. The analysis of local agency suggests a more complicated picture in which local economic and cultural choices are included as explanatory variables. The story of the connection of these spaces to regional and global networks is not only a story about local dispossession, but also about local ingenuity. The globalization of the economy in the early 1970s disempowered and relegated these areas to the periphery of the economic system. The consolidation of a global modernity articulated around the need to provide leisure has opened a venue for these areas to reconnect themselves to the central networks and to attract large amounts of resources from these urban-dominated economic systems.