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Territory in Latin America—An Evasive and Deeply Embedded Construct

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Territorialising Space in Latin America

Part of the book series: The Latin American Studies Book Series ((LASBS))

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Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the concepts and constructs of territory and territoriality, with its special focus on their meanings in Latin America and to what extent these are considered as exceptional. The framings and material manifestations of the concepts are interrogated as historical palimpsests, as tools related to policy in neoliberal transformations and the territorial turn, and thirdly, as powerful realisations of cultural identity. In the section called, ‘territory as a geographical area of, and with, values’, the concept is dissected, for analytical clarification, as ‘territory–space–control’ (territory as appropriation and as exclusion), and as ‘territory–place–identity’ (sense of place, sense of attachment, the idea of community, landscape). Related to these is the idea of ‘territory–knowledge–representation’ (epistemological experience and discourse). Processes of territorialisation necessitate change, which must imply conflict, appropriation, alienation and resistance. This section considers the interpretations and realisations of both deterritorialisation and reterritorialisation, which introduce discussions on power, control, claims and conflicts, as well as ethical issues of agency and legitimacy. Concrete manifestations of territory, as well as its conceptualisation, require a section on scale, limits and boundaries. The final discussion point is the actualities of signification and representation: ‘talking about “our territory”’, mapping methods and critical cartography in territorialisation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigaciones en Geografía Ambiental, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelia, México

    Michael K. McCall, Brian M. Napoletano & Tyanif Rico-Rodríguez

  2. División de Ingenierías, Universidad de Guanajuato, Guanajuato, México

    Andrew Boni Noguez

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  1. Michael K. McCall
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  2. Brian M. Napoletano
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  3. Andrew Boni Noguez
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  4. Tyanif Rico-Rodríguez
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Correspondence to Michael K. McCall .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelia, Mexico

    Michael K. McCall

  2. Universidad de Guanajuato, Guanajuato, Mexico

    Andrew Boni Noguez

  3. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelia, Mexico

    Brian Napoletano

  4. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelia, Mexico

    Tyanif Rico-Rodríguez

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McCall, M.K., Napoletano, B.M., Boni Noguez, A., Rico-Rodríguez, T. (2021). Territory in Latin America—An Evasive and Deeply Embedded Construct. In: McCall, M.K., Boni Noguez, A., Napoletano, B., Rico-Rodríguez, T. (eds) Territorialising Space in Latin America. The Latin American Studies Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82222-4_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82222-4_2

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