Sub-theme 4. Commons between colonial legacies and the Anthropocene
Panel 4.6.
Lessons from the past: Organizations, Challenges, and Resilience in a historical perspective and the question of the sources
The aim of this panel is to attract and discuss papers that can shed light on the ability (or lack of ability) of local communities to manage their common resources even if they are confronted with challenging events and developments. We use a historical perspective on that question as history offers a multiplicity of collective experiences that can serve as a laboratory to test the links between environment and society, economy and culture, locality and politics. History also provides a deeper understanding of the drivers and results of processes like the expansion of commodity frontiers, changes in the power structure of states and local organizations or social/cultural, technical and ecological developments. Many of these processes have gained particularly high speed during the 19th and 20th century. How did common pool organizations cope with these dynamics? What helped them persist? What caused them to dissolve?
Additionally to the key words “organization”, “challenges” and “resilience”, this panel reflects on the methodological question, what impact the sources used for research have on the results. Which source genre provides which kind of information and what are its advantages and disadvantages? Where are the pitfalls of naively interpreting a specific type of sources? What happens if different kinds of sources are combined?
Thus, the papers in this panel present their case studies on the one hand and put forward for discussion their approach to source selection and interpretation on the other hand.
1. An Environmental History of the Itanhém River: To count the commons we live, and dream the commons we want
Federal University of Sul da Bahia, Brazil
How significant is the history of a region for the resilience required to present and future challenges? This work rewrites one of the biases of the environmental history of the Itanhém River, Bahia, Brazil, and records the transformation of one of the richest biomes in terms of biodiversity on the planet, the Atlantic Forest, to the predominance of pastures, forestry, agriculture, and areas degraded and poorly exploited. The most significant environmental, cultural and economic changes took place in the 1960s and 1990s. However, when searching the historical records, few fragments that tell this transformation are found. Even less about history from the perspective of the “disqualified”, those who did not have their memories recorded, but who mainly felt and polished the transformations of this place. As a result, in the absence of official records, the history of the region is alive only in the memories of original and contemporary citizens. With that, the memories of the elders and pioneers are naturally lost, unraveling along with the history of the river. The methodological strategy relies on oral history techniques, as well as bibliographical and documental surveys. This work shows real and defining visions of people who helped, behind the scenes, in anonymity, to forge such an altered environment, such as it is today. The results form a mass of information that allows society to learn the lessons of the past, understand the old and new challenges, and discuss how our institutions guide us with the compass of resilience through this fantastic journey of collective learning.
2. Collective management, agriculture, environment and conflicts. Commons in historical perspective in Laíño, Galicia
Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain
The historiography on the commons in the Iberian context has analysed in depth the ability of local communities to preserve the collective management of the land under adverse circumstances, especially in the face of the disentailment policies of the 19th century and the forced afforestation projects of the 20th century. However, the processes of appropriation of these communally owned and managed areas continue even after the legal recognition of this kind of property, which brings us closer to concepts such as “commons grabbing” or “green grabbing” that are being discussed in Latin America and other parts of the world, mainly in the global south. The case of the ‘braña de Laíño’ (Dodro, Galicia), a wetland managed in common by local communities over the last centuries, fits into these more recent appropriation processes.
Through a wide range of sources we will approach its historical and juridical trajectory, paying attention to the relationship between organic and collective management and the sustainability of the territory and the communities of Laíño, to the role played in the process by the knowledge networks linked to the emigration to America as well as to the expansion of commodity frontiers in the area. We will then present some paradoxes derived from the expropriation of the communal land, carried out in the 1990s under the umbrella of environmental protection, which can operate as another form of extractivism. Finally, we will discuss some ideas that history offers us in relation to the present and the future of a place that today faces serious problems from a sustainability perspective.
3. Modernisation of alpine pasture use from the perspective of different data sources
Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern, Switzerland
The history of common alpine pastures at the beginning of the 20th century is marked by modernisation and the new involvement of governmental actors. National and cantonal policies and financial contributions aim to enhance the quality of the alpine infrastructure and land improvements. The focus of improvement projects is among others put on pasture drainage systems, the construction and improvement of alpine paths and the construction of wells and new functional stables. In comparison to forestry, the state policy on alpine pasture use is thus primarily a subsidy policy rather than a regulatory policy. With the help of judicial decisions, photographs, publications of agricultural associations and other data, I would like to give an insight into this early modernisation phase and at the same time discuss which data sources can be helpful in establishing the context at that time. However, this also raises the question: which insights cannot be gained in this way? What remains hidden?
4. Common rituals, works and infrastructure: What do photographs tell us about the resilience of common pool organizations?
Institute of History, University of Bern, Switzerland
The 20th/21st century were and are a time of deep, diverse and sometimes fast changes in Swiss mountain regions and brought many challenges for local common pool organizations. In my presentation I look at the example of the Korporation Uri to sort out, which historical achievements have helped it build resilience and not only respond to external pressures, but also seize and exploit opportunities that arose from the multiple developments.
In addition to presenting the case study, which has been researched for several years, I want to explore the specific informative value of photographs of and about common pool organizations. What insights into resilience can we gain from them that neither written sources nor oral history interviews can bring? And what do we have to pay special attention to when analyzing and interpreting these virtual sources?
