Scalar Politics and the Co‐Evolution of Social and Ecological Systems in Coastal Southern Chile

AbstractCoastal southern Chile includes a set of territories in a continuous process of bio‐social construction which cannot be understood without considering scalar politics. Environmental concerns, included in broader neoliberal frameworks of governance, play a central role in the performance of such scales. Thus, this case shows some of the patterns of relations between scalarity and the management of key ecological features. Additionally, territorial governance and scalar production occur in a geographical context over which the State has low effective degree of direct control. Consequently, such processes also need group and individual internalisation of new rules through the creation of mechanisms of self‐interest that allow agents' ‘conduct of the conduct’ Thus, scales act as sources and key elements in the generation of governmental instruments that frame and influence individual actions.

Kimelfe