Amazonia Without Myths

This report, prepared by the Commission on Development and Environment for Amazonia at the initiative of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty and supported by the Inter-American Development Bank and the United Nations Development Programme, is based on the concept of an Amazonia that exists above and beyond the world of fantasy and myth: an Amazonia of flesh and blood, of human toil, of human history, of human faces and hopes, and future human beings. It is an analysis based not only on the experiences and technologies of today"s world but also, and with greater emphasis, on the wisdom accumulated for centuries by Amazonia itself: standing Amazonia. The Amazon region has the largest area of tropical forest on the planet, and concern for its environmental deterioration extends well beyond the borders of the eight countries that form a part of it. With support from the IDB and UNDP, the Commission on Development and Environment for Amazonia prepared this report that provides data on the region's natural resources, population, health and infrastructure.

This report, prepared by the Commission on Development and Environment for Amazonia at the initiative of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty and supported by the Inter-American Development Bank and the United Nations Development Programme, is based on the concept of an Amazonia that exists above and beyond the world of fantasy and myth: an Amazonia of flesh and blood, of human toil, of human history, of human faces and hopes, and future human beings. It is an analysis based not only on the experiences and technologies of today"s world but also, and with greater emphasis, on the wisdom accumulated for centuries by Amazonia itself: standing Amazonia. The Amazon region has the largest area of tropical forest on the planet, and concern for its environmental deterioration extends well beyond the borders of the eight countries that form a part of it. With support from the IDB and UNDP, the Commission on Development and Environment for Amazonia prepared this report that provides data on the region's natural resources, population, health and infrastructure.

"The skill with which [Slater] combines various levels and modalities of narrative, utilizing her personal experience as a colorful unifying thread, is truly remarkable."—Antonio Candido, author of Antonio Candido: On Literature and Society (Howard S. Becker, editor) "A very important book, that quite gracefully, elegantly, and persuasively moves beyond the usual 'myth and history' format to put at its center stories about the Amazon and the people who tell them. Entangled Edens persuasively argues that the Amazon can only be grasped, understood, and come to terms with through its myths and stories. It addresses a very real failing of modern environmentalism, which for all its virtues, tends to dehumanize and metaphorically depopulate, when it does not villainize, populations that do share its concerns or share them in very different ways. Instead of forcing us to choose between land and people, Slater uses the stories and the people who tell them to rethink human relations with nature and each other."—Richard White, author of The Organic Machine: The Remaking of the Columbia River "Elegant, erudite, profoundly serious, Entangled Edens is a source of inspiration and knowledge for the reader interested in the Amazon. Without the cultural tradition and the life experience of Amazonia’s people, any analysis of the Amazon risks becoming inconsequential or opportunistic. This is one of the powerful messages of this important reflection on the Amazon, whose greatest riches are ultimately its people. Candace Slater has written a book that will last."—Milton Hatoum, author of The Tree of the Seventh Heaven(1994) and The Brothers (2002)

This book argues against the assumption that sustainability and environmental conservation are naturally the common goal and norm for everyone in Amazonia. This is the first book focusing on agency, reflexivity and social development to address sustainable development in the region. It discusses the importance of looking into societal dynamics in order to deal with deforestation and sustainable development policies through the ethnography of an Amazonian settlement named New Paradise. This book demystifies utopian and overtly conservationist views that depict the Amazon rainforest as a troubled paradise. Engaging with social theory of practice with particular focus on emergentist perspectives and Foucault’s analysis of ‘heterotopia’, the author shows that Amazonia is a set of settlement heterotopias in which various local and external initiatives interact to make up real, lived-in places. The settlers’ placemaking continually rearranges power and material relations while the process usually emphasises utopian developmentalist and conservationist policy intervention. This book explores in detail how, as power relations are arranged and governance reshaped, sustainable development and construction of a green society also need to become a goal for the settlers themselves. The book’s insights on the relationship between the sustainable development frameworks used in environmental policy, and ongoing societal development on the ground inform debate both within Amazonia, and in comparable communities worldwide. It also offers institutional pathways to realise new, more engaging, policy intervention for development professionals and policy makers.

This book analyses the potential socio-economic and environmental impacts of the Initiative for Regional Infrastructure Integration in South America (IIRSA), a continent-wide programme. IIRSA aims at facilitating intra-regional trade and at improving trade and transport links with world markets. This is the first book on IIRSA and its potential implications for South America and more specifically for Amazonia. The book provides an in-depth analysis of the infrastructure programme and deals particularly with methods to assess the probable effects of road construction in environmentally fragile territories. To deepen our understanding of the potential impacts of roads in these areas, the book combines insights from economic and environmental sciences and gives a critical review of traditional assessments and strategic environmental assessments (SEAs). A comprehensive approach of assessing impacts is presented in three case studies of SEAs: the Corredor Norte in Bolivia, the road between Manaus and Porto Velho in Brazil, and the proposed road to link Suriname with Brazil.

With a vast river network and rainforests extending over eight South American countries, the Amazon plays a vital role particularly in maintaining biodiversity and terrestrial carbon storage. Due to its ecological characteristics, the Amazon benefits not only those countries but also the international community at large. However, the Amazon forests are being rapidly cleared with a consequent loss of biodiversity and impact on global climate. This book examines whether international law has an impact on the preservation of the Amazon by inquiring into the forms of cooperation that exist among the Amazon countries, and between them and the international community, and to what extent international cooperation can help protect the Amazon. Given the role of this region in maintaining the balance of the global environment, the book examines whether the Amazon should be granted a special legal status and possible implications in terms of international cooperation.

Parodi shows that boundary disputes have and continue to play a major role in creating tensions in South America. Of the 25 international territorial boundaries that exist in South America, eight were marked with major wars, eight with lesser wars, and five with some level of violence. As recently as 1995, the armies of Ecuador and Peru were at war to define a boundary. In 1982 Argentina went to war, inspired by the call to restore a piece of its mutilated national territory. Venezuela and Guyana, Guyana and Suriname, and Suriname and French Guiana have not completed boundary demarcation agreements. Bolivia's insistence on its right for sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean is a source of tension with Chile and Peru. Colombia and Venezuela have unresolved boundary issues in the Gulf of Venezuela. Clearly, boundary disputes have and continue to play a major role in creating larger conflicts within South America. Territorial boundaries are marks on the ground, but, as Parodi shows, their staying power or stability depends on their grip on consciousness. By examining the boundary theory of South American states and its implementation, he also explains how the symbolic system of South American boundaries is used to instill national identity, mobilize people to war, and control population and territory. This text will be of particular interest to scholars, students, and researchers involved with Latin American politics, diplomacy, and international relations.