Pablo Dominguez - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Pablo Dominguez

Effervescence patrimoniale au Sud

Journal des anthropologues, 2007

MONTSE COLERA Université autonome de Barcelone (Département d'anthropologie sociale et culturelle... more MONTSE COLERA Université autonome de Barcelone (Département d'anthropologie sociale et culturelle) PABLO DOMINGUEZ Université autonome de Barcelone (Département d'anthropologie sociale et culturelle) MÓNICA MARTINEZ Université autonome de Barcelone (Département d'anthropologie sociale et culturelle)

Perifèria. Revista d'investigació i formació en Antropologia, 2007

www.periferia.name revista de recerca i formació en antropologia 1 Transformación de institucione... more www.periferia.name revista de recerca i formació en antropologia 1 Transformación de instituciones religiosas tradicionales en el Alto Atlas de Marrakech (Marruecos) y su impacto en los ecosistemas subalpinos. Caso del sistema pastoral del agdal Pablo Dominguez-UAB/EHESS/LPED 1 Resumen En mi presentación subrayaré la importancia de las instituciones religiosas tradicionales del territorio de montaña del Yagur en la conservación de los actuales ecosistemas sub-alpinos. Las instituciones religiosas tradicionales apoyan al sistema agdal, que consiste en la prohibición de acceder a los pastos de alta montaña durante tres ó cuatro meses en primavera y que, según numerosos autores, resulta beneficiosa ecológicamente. La hipótesis principal que subyace es que para entender el concepto del agdal y sus impactos en la protección del medio subalpino, los sistemas bio-ecológico, tecnológico, jurídico y económico sobre el que reposa el agdal no puede ser amputado de su dimensión simbólica y religiosa, siempre en perpetua transformación. La pregunta concreta que intentaré responder en mi presentación es si la creencia en los santos del Alto Atlas, además de ser un elemento de construcción de la cosmología local, es también un elemento relevante de la economía y ecología del Yagur. Las observaciones de campo que describiré a continuación, sugieren que el cambio acaecido en las instituciones religiosas tradicionales de los santos del Atlas es causa y efecto indisociable de la manera en que son gestionados estos pastos, y que dicho sistema simbólico es parte relevante de la economía y ecología locales.

Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 2017

In this article, I examine how local religious traditions and environmental management interact w... more In this article, I examine how local religious traditions and environmental management interact with each other, as well as how both relate to new globalizing inmuences such as emerging State structures and ideologies, mass media, migrations, market integration, tourism, NGOs, modernist conceptions of nature, and present Islamic movements. Through an ethnographic study of the Berber Mesioua tribe of the Moroccan High Atlas, I focus on the agdal, a locally produced agro-sylvo-pastoral governance system prohibiting access to particular natural resources for a given period in order to optimize its yield and assure its sustained and equitable use. The integration of agdals into local religiosity and their associated ethics entail a local conservationist and egalitarian set of principles. I conclude that, strained in great part by the socio-economic and cultural-political forces implicated in the globalization of cosmologies and epistemologies, the replacement of local worldviews and the...

AIBR. Revista de Antropología Iberoamericana, 2012

La versión original en español de este artículo está disponible en la página web de la revista Su... more La versión original en español de este artículo está disponible en la página web de la revista Summary: Ethnoecology studies human beings' relation with their environment aiming at understanding several current social-ecological problems such as ecological degradation and loss of cultural diversity, mainly from a local point of view. Since 2006, the research team of the Ethnoecology Laboratory (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) is conducting research projects focused on the study of social, cultural, political, and ecological factors and dynamics influencing the relation of rural and indigenous communities in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe, with their surrounding environment. Contrary to the common practice of simply extracting information from rural communities, projects from the Ethnoecology Laboratory blend academic research and actions oriented to return their findings to the populations where they take place to contribute in some direct or indirect way to the improvement of their well-being and sustainable use of natural resources.

Le métis comme catégorie sociale : Revendications, agencéité et enjeux politiques. Métis as Social Category : Rights, Agency and Political Issues. El mestizo como categoría social : Reivindicaciones, agenceidad y retos políticos. Anthropologie et Sociétés, vol. 38, no. 2, 2014

El primer a�o de la Moving Anthropology Student Network (MASN)

Quaternary International, 2017

Numerous authors from various disciplines have underlined the importance of Indigenous Peoples' a... more Numerous authors from various disciplines have underlined the importance of Indigenous Peoples' and Community Conserved Territories and Areas (ICCAs) for assuring the livelihoods of local populations whilst conserving the environment. The agdal is probably Morocco's best example of such an institution. Nevertheless they have always existed within the context of change and currently are experiencing major transitions. Detailed ethnographic studies of the socio-ecological drivers of these processes of change in agdals are scarce. Based on the particular case of the agdal of Yagur in the Mountain Mesioui tribal territory (High Atlas of Morocco), this article will analyse contemporary transformations. These dynamics are inherent to small-scale societies' ICCAs, even if they have most often been described as isolated, autarchic and mutable only under external pressure. From the case of the agdal of Yagur, we show how non-local processes are only part of the picture, and that the transformation of agdal forms are also related to key internal drivers, entailing a greater degree of agency by local actors than is usually given in the literature. At the same time, placing our analysis within a broader social anthropological framing, we provide a detailed actor-centred analysis that situates agents and local power relations within their institutional and cultural context while explaining how these same micropolitics of natural resource management articulate with and within wider global scales.

Anthropologie et Sociétés, 2014

Dans cet article, nous montrons que si les populations humaines se sont toujours déplacées et mél... more Dans cet article, nous montrons que si les populations humaines se sont toujours déplacées et mélangées, les transgressions des frontières socioculturelles n’ont pas nécessairement engendré de nouvelles catégories relevant du mélange. Nous expliquons comment l’apparition (ou non) de ces dernières est liée aux structures sociopolitiques, aux ontologies, aux conceptions de la parenté et de la procréation propres aux différents groupes humains, en partant du processus historico-politique qui a donné origine à la catégorie hispano-américaine du mestizo. Outre l’étude de la société hispano-américaine coloniale, nous examinons les cas de la République d’Argentine, de trois sociétés indiennes d’Amérique latine (Kuna, Tsachila et Candoshi), du nationalisme catalan vis-à-vis des migrants internes espagnols, de la société Chamorra des Îles Mariannes, des habitants des oasis du sud du Maroc et de la société de castes du Nord de l’Inde. Notre objectif est d’identifier dans quelles circonstances...

Culturally Mediated Provision of Ecosystem Services: The AGDAL of Yagour

Continuity and Change in Cultural Adaptation to Mountain Environments, 2012

This chapter examines Moroccan agdal, a centuries-old traditional Berber system of environmental ... more This chapter examines Moroccan agdal, a centuries-old traditional Berber system of environmental management that consists of rules prohibiting access to communal natural resources during a certain period in order to enable their regeneration. It is an ingenious system of agro-pastoral land rotation, closely linked to a complex and evolving cosmology, which represents a set of values for the conservation of the biophysical environment, the performance of the local economy, and the maintenance of the current social cohesion, and cultural continuity. Agdal is inherently Moroccan type of gardening; it has shaped the Moroccan landscape and natural environment for hundreds of years and is also an element of social identity. A survivor of the past, but still adaptable to climatic variations and social changes, agdal continues to resituate and determine nature in the present. Agdal and its cultural heritage is very important for the durability of the current agro-pastoral activity and ecosystems.

Ethnoecology studies human beings’ relation with their environment aiming at understanding severa... more Ethnoecology studies human beings’ relation with their environment aiming at understanding several current social-ecological problems such as ecological degradation and loss of cultural diversity, mainly from a local point of view. Since 2006, the research team of the Ethnoecology Laboratory (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona) is conducting research projects focused on the study of social, cultural, political, and ecological factors and dynamics influencing the relation of rural and indigenous communities in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe, with their surrounding environment. Contrary to the common practice of simply extracting information from rural communities, projects from the Ethnoecology Laboratory blend academic research and actions oriented to return their findings to the populations where they take place to contribute in some direct or indirect way to the improvement of their well-being and sustainable use of natural resources.

Lo que no está en prensa, no existe". Los medios de comunicación parecen haberse convertido en el... more Lo que no está en prensa, no existe". Los medios de comunicación parecen haberse convertido en el cuarto poder, tras el legislativo, ejecutivo y judicial. La opinión pública se forma día a día mediante el continuo bombardeo de los medios, y constituye un elemento fundamental para la estabilidad o inestabilidad del sistema.

Sin emabrgo, la prensa olvida y desatiende cada vez más su función social con miras a su rentabilidad. En lugar de ser utensilio promotor de conocimiento y progreso, más bien constituye un poderosa arma de alienación, cosificación y anonadamiento de la Humanidad.

Quienes han perdido el contacto con los hechos relevantes de su entorno son víctimas de la agitación y de la propaganda, del charlatán y del demagogo.

Pendant les trois dernières décennies, l’Espagne, un pays qui auparavant était objet de recherche... more Pendant les trois dernières décennies, l’Espagne, un pays qui auparavant était objet de recherche ethnographique (J. Pitt-Rivers, 1954 ; D. Gilmore, 1980, 1987, 1991, 1999)3, s’est transformée en pays « producteur » de connaissances anthropologiques dans « la périphérie » du « centre »4. Cette affirmation peut être cependant nuancée, car en fonction du context on peut situer l’Espagne différemment. Certains anthropologues latino-américains, africains et asiatiques pourraient peut-être voir la péninsule Ibérique comme une partie du « centre » parce qu’elle a été une métropole coloniale et qu’elle est géographiquement située en Europe occidentale, alors que certains scientifiques sociaux du « centre » continuent à projeter un regard éloigné sur elle. En effet, l’anthropologie espagnole s’est développée dans un espace à mi-chemin entre le « centre » et la « périphérie ».

Basant-se en una discussió existent des de molt temps ençà en les ciències socials, universalisme... more Basant-se en una discussió existent des de molt temps ençà en les ciències socials, universalisme vs relativisme, el present article exposa els efectes que ha generat un tipus d’orientació universalista (filosofia de la Revolució Verda) respecte la producció d’aliments a la comarca d’Osona (Catalunya central). Concretament, s’analitzen la deriva històrica i les diferents conseqüències econòmiques, socials I ambientals que ha causat el fet de prioritzar al sector porcí en la producció alimentària d’aquesta comarca dins d’una concepció d’integració al mercat global. Així, es contempla el resultat actual d’un procés que es va iniciar als anys 80, quan aquesta producció es va intensificar radicalment, es va desvincular del territori i les grans empreses es van acabar fen amb una àmplia part del control. Concloem que un universalisme extrem i etnocèntric occidental aplicat a la producció d’aliments, ha generat desequilibris socials, problemes ambientals i ha polaritzat l’economia productiva de la zona.

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment found a general decline in the consumption and gathering of w... more The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment found a general decline in the consumption and gathering of wild edible plants, but some studies also observe a localized increase. Using information from interviews (n = 1133) in seven sites in the Iberian Peninsula and one in the Balearic Islands, we 1) identify current trends in the consumption and gathering of wild edible plants (n = 56 plant-uses) and 2) analyze how cultural ecosystem services relate to such trends. Our data show a generalized decrease in the consumption and gathering of wild edible plants, although the trend changes significantly across plant-uses. Specifically, we found that –despite the overall decreasing trend– uses of wild edible plants that simultaneously relate to foods with high cultural appreciation and the recreational function of gathering remain popular. Our results signal that cultural services and values associated to the gathering and consumption of some wild edible plants are important factors explaining divergent trends across plant species. This finding reinforces the notion that cultural ecosystem services are deeply intertwined with other categories of services which can combine in complex, non-linear ways producing a variety of interdependent benefits.

Environmental Values, 2012

This study examines the multiple dimensions of the agdal system, a traditional Berber form of env... more This study examines the multiple dimensions of the agdal system, a traditional Berber form of environmental management that regulates access to communal natural resources so as to allow the regeneration of natural resources. In fact, this ingenious system of agro-pastoral land rotation is ultimately beneficial for the conservation of the bio-physical environment, the performance of the present-day local economy and the maintenance of prevailing social cohesion and cultural coherence. Hence, agdals constitute a key element for the reinforcement of the sustainability of existing agro-pastoral societies and ecosystems, but need to be better understood in order to explore necessary adaptations in the changing world of today.

Effervescence patrimoniale au Sud

Journal des anthropologues, 2007

Perifèria. Revista d'investigació i formació en Antropologia, 2007

Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 2017

AIBR. Revista de Antropología Iberoamericana, 2012

El primer a�o de la Moving Anthropology Student Network (MASN)

Quaternary International, 2017

Anthropologie et Sociétés, 2014

Culturally Mediated Provision of Ecosystem Services: The AGDAL of Yagour

Continuity and Change in Cultural Adaptation to Mountain Environments, 2012

Quienes han perdido el contacto con los hechos relevantes de su entorno son víctimas de la agitación y de la propaganda, del charlatán y del demagogo.

Environmental Values, 2012

At first sight, the agdal consists of banning grazing each year for a given period, allowing a re... more At first sight, the agdal consists of banning grazing each year for a given period, allowing a resting period to the vegetation, the establishment of young seedlings and thus the continuity of the ecosystem and of the pastoral activity. Our primary aim is to put into perspective the pastoral production systems and the cultural representations of the population of the Ayt Ikiss in the High Atlas of Marrakesh, on the basis of an analysis of the system of tagdalts (combined system of several small agdals) and of the functioning of the pastoral Agdal of Yagour. Secondly, we analyse the main transformations with which the local agro-pastoral society is confronted. Our position is that we can only understand the concept and the practice of the agdal within the framework of a holistic and total approach that takes into account the bioecological, technical, legal, economic and symbolic systems. The agdal is a key factor of the economic system and of the local agro-pastoral system. But it also includes a fundamental cultural dimension. The religious institutions and the ritual practices are the mainstay of the rules of the agdal and occupy a central position in the management of the pastoral territory ofYagour, the maintenance of biodiversity and the long term conservation of communal pastoral resources.

This study examines diverse roles of the agdal system, a several centuries-old traditional Berber... more This study examines diverse roles of the agdal system, a several centuries-old traditional Berber form of environmental management that consists of prohibiting access to communal natural resources during a certain period, in order to enable the regeneration of natural resources. As results, we gained understanding of an ingenious system of agro-pastoral land rotation based on several agdals (also called tagdalts in diminutive) and closely linked to a complex and evolving cosmology, which together represent certain values for the conservation of the bio-physical environment, the performance of the present local economy, and the maintenance of the current social cohesion and cultural continuity. The agdal system is an inherently Moroccan type of gardening, because it is a system that has shaped the Moroccan landscape and nature for hundreds of years, but also because it is an element of social identity. A survivor of the past but still adaptable to climatic variations and social changes, the landscape of the agdals continues to resituate and determine nature in the present. As a conclusion we propose that agdals and their probably millenary cultural heritage, are very important for the durability of the current agro-pastoral activity and ecosystems.

Le Yagour , dans le Haut Atlas de Marrakech, est un haut lieu de transhumance estivale qui fait l... more Le Yagour , dans le Haut Atlas de Marrakech, est un haut lieu de transhumance estivale qui fait l’objet d’une gestion communautaire reposant sur la mise en défens saisonnière du territoire pastoral (l’Agdal). L’Agdal est le produit d’une construction patrimoniale endogène porteuse d’une mémoire vivante, un monument pastoral contribuant au maintien de l’autonomie et de l’identité communautaire par la sécurisation des usages pastoraux sur le temps long. Au cours des dernières décennies, le patrimoine communautaire du Yagour est menacé et fragilisé par la conjonction d’un ensemble de facteurs. La « dé-patrimonialisation locale » s’accompagne de l’émergence de nouvelles formes de « patrimonialisation globale » visant la préservation de la biodiversité, des paysages et des gravures rupestres. Les deux visions patrimoniales, « locale » et « globale », semblent a priori difficilement compatibles. Contrairement à la première, socio-écologique et holistique, la seconde repose sur une vision du monde consacrant la séparation des éléments de nature et de culture. La reconnaissance de l’Agdal permet cependant d’envisager leur conciliation, dans une perspective de « conservation participante » et de « co-management patrimonial » reposant sur un concept local qui fait sens pour la population.

Even if there is a growing scientific demonstration that Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas... more Even if there is a growing scientific demonstration that Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas (ICCAs) created locally in specific cultural and ecological contexts are a positive management regime for the wellbeing of local populations and the conservation of the environment, in fact ICCAs are being strongly undermined worldwide. The present text treats this problem focusing on a particular agro-pastoral ICCA in Morocco, the agdal. More concretely I will focus on the system of tagdalts (small agdals) of the Ait Ikis community, which consists of regulating seasonally the utilization of highland rangelands and agriculture through an assembly of users whose objective is to ensure a sustained use and egalitarian access to natural resources. As one of the key drivers of the undergoing agdal crisis in the Ait Ikis, I point at important lacunas in the exchange interface between science and politics which imply the undervaluing of agdals. One of the ways for the necessary implication of the decision makers and politicians that affect the socio-environmental problems of these systems could be the processes of Patrimonialization, which seek to give a clear and public recognition to the natural and cultural values of these socio-ecological systems at a local, national and international level.

This study estimates the economic contribution in a qualitative and quantitative way of the pasto... more This study estimates the economic contribution in a qualitative and quantitative way of the pastoral mountain territory of the Yagour (High Atlas of Morocco), governed by the locally emerged institution of the agdal. The maghrebian agdal, like the HIMAS in the Mashrek, is a system of communal management of natural resources, but in this case mainly of the amazigh (the Berber ethnic community). In the case studied here, a high mountain pastoral agdal consists on prohibiting herding during three months in spring, allowing vegetation regeneration, establishment of new seeds, and continuity of local pastoralism and ecological cycles. Specifically, and after giving a general overview of the agdals, the economic contribution of the Yagour to the population of the Ait Ikiss that belongs to the Mesioua tribe was studied. Field work was conducted from 2003 to 2008 adding up to one whole year of cohabitation with the Ait Ikiss through all agropastoral seasons. As main result it was found that the agdal-managed Yagour providing an important annual agro-pastoral income through its fodder contribution. Nevertheless, since highly rigorous accounting is impossible in a society that weakly monetizes its production, all along the text complementary qualitative data were presented to gain a better understanding of all the dimensions of the agdal of Yagour. Based on these findings, it could be concluded that even if highly underestimated by national administrations, the agdal communal management system, like the HIMAs of the Mashrek, could be considered an important practice for the functioning of the local agropastoral economies, at the same time, as it favors the ecological functioning of the present environments in a culturally embedded and highly legitimate way.

Notre problématique de recherche porte sur les mutations, durant le dernier siècle, de la relatio... more Notre problématique de recherche porte sur les mutations, durant le dernier siècle, de la relation à l’environnement d’une petite communauté d’agro-pasteurs du Haut Atlas de Marrakech, les Aït Ikis. Cette population montagnarde d’environ 700 habitants dépende de plusieurs espaces mais très spécialement du Yagour, un pâturage de 70 km² étagé entre 2.000 m et 3.600 m. L’institution coutumière de l’agdal qui gère tous les espaces en question et participe fortement aux rapports à l’environnement, consiste en la mise en défens saisonnière des espaces, dont la date exacte d’ouverture est décidée par toute la communauté d’usagers. Le but est d’assurer un repos minimal aux espèces végétales et la durabilité de son utilisation. Dans ce contexte, nous avons essayé de répondre à trois hypothèses : 1- Le système traditionnel de l’agdal était globalement durable, mais mis en crise notamment par son contact croissant avec les sociétés industrielles. 2- Dans le monde actuel, l’agdal aurait des potentialités de développement et de conservation. 3- Une approche profondément transdisciplinaire, qui utilise à la fois les disciplines individualisées, est nécessaire pour bien comprendre des problématiques éco-anthropologiques complexes de ce genre. Nous sommes partis d’une étude du contexte géographique, écologique, social et historique. Ensuite, nous avons analysé le système agro-économique et la culture symbolique qui accompagne ce système, ainsi que l’état de l’environnement au sein d’importants processus de changement. Pour conclure, nous avons corroboré nos hypothèses, et affirmé spécialement notre soutien à « une transdisciplinarité qui combine des approches disciplinaires spécialisées ».