Abstract

ROJAS-SERRANO, Coral  and  MARTINEZ-CORONA, Beatriz. Transformations and continuities in the management and conception of the forest and gender relations in Santa Catarina Lachatao, Oaxaca. agric. soc. desarro [online]. 2017, vol.14, n.3, pp.451-478. ISSN 1870-5472.

This article analyzes the way in which inhabitants of Santa Catarina Lachatao, in Oaxaca, México, a community governed by autonomous indigenous institutions, conceive, manage and give meaning to the forest with which they reproduce an agricultural lifestyle shaped by historical changes in the local, national and international economy, in addition to gender differences in terms of decision making and access to forest resources. A qualitative research approach was used, with in-depth interviews with men and women in the locality and the use of participant observation. It was identified that the community’s residents, affected by the global economic system, defend their form of forest management based on their own conceptualization and organization, with persistent cultural moorings that mark differentiated spaces and activities for men and women, which reproduce gender differences in terms of experiences and approaches to the resources and different positions in the power structure. The forest allows them to conserve a community and agricultural lifestyle, and to perform new economic activities such as ecotourism.

Keywords : collective action; forest; community; gender; territorial management.

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