Wild Sardinia: Indigeneity and the Global Dreamtimes of Environmentalism

by Tracey Heatherington, K. Sivaramakrishnan

Overview

**Winner of the 2010 Victor Turner Prize in Ethnographic Writing, presented by the American Anthropological Association**

Shared concern for nature can be a way of transcending national, ethnic, religious, and cultural boundaries, yet conservation efforts often pit the interests of historically rooted or indigenous peoples against the state and international environmental organizations, eroding local autonomy while “saving” rural land for animals and tourists. Wild Sardinia’s examination of the cultural politics around nature conservation and the traditional Commons on an Italian island illustrates the complexities of environmental stewardship. Long known as the home of fiercely independent shepherds (often typecast as rustics, bandits, or eco-vandals), as well as wild mouflon sheep, magnificent eagles, and rare old oak forests, the town of Orgosolo has for several decades received notoriety through local opposition to Gennargentu National Park.

Interweaving rich ethnographic description of highland central Sardinia with analysis grounded in political ecology and reflexive cultural critique, Wild Sardinia illuminates the ambivalent and open-ended meanings of many Sardinians’ acts and memories of “resistance” to environmental projects. This groundbreaking case study of the tension between living cultural landscapes and the emerging ecological imaginaries envisioned through policy discourses and new media — the “global dreamtimes of environmentalism” — has relevance far beyond its Mediterranean locale.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780295989983
Publisher:	University of Washington Press
Publication date:	02/18/2010
Series:	Culture, Place, and Nature
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Tracey Heatherington is associate professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is the author of Wild Sardinia: Indigeneity and the Global Dreamtimes of Environmentalism (University of Washington Press, 2010).

Kalyanakrishnan "Shivi" Sivaramakrishnan is Dinakar Singh Professor of India and South Asia Studies, professor of anthropology, professor of forestry and environmental studies, and codirector of the Program in Agrarian Studies, Yale University.

Table of Contents

Foreword by K. Sivaramakrishnan

Preface and Acknowledgments

Part One: Beginnings

Introduction

1. Ecology, Alterity, and Resistance

Part Two: Ecology

2. Envisioning the Supramonte

3. Intimate Landscapes

Part Three: Alterity

4. Dark Frontier

5. Seeing Like a State, Seeing Like an ENGO

Part Four: Resistance

6. Walking in Via Gramsci

7. Sin, Shame, and Sheep

Part Five: Post-Environmentalisms

8. Beyond Ethnographic Refusal

9. Hope and Mischief in the Global Dreamtimes

Appendix: List of Acronyms

Notes

Glossary of Italian and Sardinian Words

References

Index

What People are Saying About This

Paige West

"A wonderful ethnographic book that locates Sardinia directly within contemporary questions of environmentalism, rights, and justice. It is superbly written, eloquently argued, and a pleasure to read."

Editorial Reviews

"Raises some fundamental ethical, theoretical and practical issues with respect to environmentalism and its intersection with community interests, nationalism and globalization . . ."

Social Anthropology / Anthropologie Sociale 20(2) - Subhadra Mitra Channa

Heatherington expertly weaves an insightful analysis of global environmental hegemony; attendant cultural essentialisms; and the negotiation of authenticity, authority, and identity in relation to contested landscapes. . . This detailed and well-written case study is a must-read for anyone interested in political ecology, environmental justice, the anthropology of resistance, and cultural politics.

American Ethnologist - Aaron M. Lampman

"This volume.. is a remarkable academic intervention on both the thematic topics and the area in question. Wild Sardinia is an eloquent and complex piece of engaged anthropological scholarship that will find a home in many academic debates and fields. Heatherington grapples honestly and openly with difficult questions, those that typically haunt most academics who continue to do long-term fieldwork in places far and near to their home institutions.Apart from anthropologists, geographers, historians, conservation biologists, and political scientists will all benefit from parts or the whole of Wild Sardinia. Regardless of your own regional focus or disciplinary approach, you will find richly engaged and engaging material in this book. ."

H-Net

"Heatherington expertly weaves an insightful analysis of global environmental hegemony; attendant cultural essentialisms; and the negotiation of authenticity, authority, and identity in relation to contested landscapes. . . This detailed and well-written case study is a must-read for anyone interested in political ecology, environmental justice, the anthropology of resistance, and cultural politics."

Aaron M. Lampmann Ethnologist

"What is so original about Heatherington's discussion of resistance is that she not only carefully documents the stiflingly tight parameters from within which Orgosolo residents voice their discontent. She also examines how a heavily routinized local discourse on resistance has taken on a social life of its own."

Anthropological Quarterly

Heatherington expertly weaves an insightful analysis of global environmental hegemony; attendant cultural essentialisms; and the negotiation of authenticity, authority, and identity in relation to contested landscapes. . . This detailed and well-written case study is a must-read for anyone interested in political ecology, environmental justice, the anthropology of resistance, and cultural politics.

--Aaron M. Lampman "American Ethnologist" (1/1/2012 12:00:00 AM)

Raises some fundamental ethical, theoretical and practical issues with respect to environmentalism and its intersection with community interests, nationalism and globalization . . .

--Subhadra Mitra Channa "Social Anthropology / Anthropologie Sociale 20(2)"

This volume.. is a remarkable academic intervention on both the thematic topics and the area in question. Wild Sardinia is an eloquent and complex piece of engaged anthropological scholarship that will find a home in many academic debates and fields. Heatherington grapples honestly and openly with difficult questions, those that typically haunt most academics who continue to do long-term fieldwork in places far and near to their home institutions.Apart from anthropologists, geographers, historians, conservation biologists, and political scientists will all benefit from parts or the whole of Wild Sardinia. Regardless of your own regional focus or disciplinary approach, you will find richly engaged and engaging material in this book. .

-- "H-Net"

What is so original about Heatherington's discussion of resistance is that she not only carefully documents the stiflingly tight parameters from within which Orgosolo residents voice their discontent. She also examines how a heavily routinized local discourse on resistance has taken on a social life of its own.

-- "Anthropological Quarterly"

From the Publisher