From Wetland to Saltland: Natural Obstacles and Socioecological Consequences in the Production of Solar Salt in Venezuela |
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| Authors: | Elvin Delgado |
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| Institution: | 1. Institute for Integrated Energy Studies, Department of Geography, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, Washington, USAElvin.Delgado@cwu.edu |
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| Abstract: | ABSTRACTThis 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. |
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| Keywords: | Energy fishing communities Lake Maracaibo Los Olivitos wetland oil industry petrochemical industry political economy of nature solar salt subsumption of nature Venezuela |
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