Water and Power in Highland Peru The Cultural Politics of Irrigation and Development

Author/creator Gelles, Paul H., 1957- Author
Format Electronic
Publication InfoPiscataway : Rutgers University Press
Description254 p. ill 09.000 x 06.000 in.
Supplemental ContentFull text available from eBooks on EBSCOhost
Subjects

Summary Annotation In Andean society, as in many other areas of the world, irrigation water carries broad cultural significance and has long been a source of conflict. Nowhere is the struggle over irrigation and over the cultural meanings of water more apparent than in Cabanaconde, a large peasant community located in the arid highlands of southern Peru. Using historical materials and richly detailed ethnographic reporting, Paul H. Gelles shows that water, ethnicity, and power in Cabanaconde, as elsewhere in the Andes, must be understood against the backdrop of the region's colonial past and contemporary nation-builing in Peru.Sifting through the layers of meaning found in the local, ritualized model of irrigation and the secular, monetary model put forth by the Peruvian state, Gelles shows that these models embody fundamentally different cultural rationales concerning natural resources, power, equity, and efficiency. Local models of irrigation, which previously served indigenous and Iberian states, have now become powerful tools of resistance against interference by local elites and the national government.
Access restrictionAvailable only to authorized users.
Technical detailsMode of access: World Wide Web
Genre/formElectronic books.
LCCN 99049069
ISBN9780813528076
ISBN0813528070 (Trade Paper) Active Record
Standard identifier# 9780813528076
Stock number00023046

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