The Light of Ecotourism: the Social Production of Fireflies and the Traps of Neoliberal Faith

This article aims to analyze, from an ethnographic political ecology perspective, a small part of a multispecies network in order to understand how fireflies and human subjects have mutually produced themselves under particular cycles of accumulation and the eternal search for survival in rural Mexi...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Velasco Santos, Paola, González Nava, Leonor Alejandra
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:México
Recursos:UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTÓNOMA DE MÉXICO
Repositorio:Anales de Antropología
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/85391
Acesso em linha:https://www.revistas.unam.mx/index.php/antropologia/article/view/85391
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Fireflies
multispecies ethnography
ecotourism
neoliberal subjects
Puebla
Neoliberal conservation
Luciérnagas
etnografía multiespecie
ecoturismo
sujetos neoliberales
Conservación neoliberal
Descrição
Resumo:This article aims to analyze, from an ethnographic political ecology perspective, a small part of a multispecies network in order to understand how fireflies and human subjects have mutually produced themselves under particular cycles of accumulation and the eternal search for survival in rural Mexico. Based on ethnographic information collected from 2018 to 2022, we explore how in recent years, the different species of fireflies that cohabit the forests of Tlahuapan, Puebla, went from being a bug with little importance in the productive, symbolic and identity practices and narratives of the ejidatarios,to a central figure and the main character of the summer nights in the forests of the Sierra Nevada. We suggest that scientists, ejidatarios, tour guides, and local entrepreneurs have co-produced fireflies by depicting them as "first actresses" in a fictional stage, sponsored by conservation tourism and at the same time have constructed themselves as neoliberal subjects.