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biophysical and socio-economic dimensions on different spatial and temporal scales
through a variety of methods including recovery of local knowledge (Reed et al. 2011).
The proposal to contribute to the analysis of drylands as a socio-ecological system in the altiplano potosino, complemented by the approximation of the theoretical
framework of the landscape, sets forth not only the conjunction of the natural,
social, and cultural components, but the search for interdisciplinary dialogues that
point to a holistic understanding of complex processes. In this way, the interest in
combining the socio-ecological system and the landscape is to establish a connection that is largely unaddressed, if not nonexistent, in which the landscape becomes
a communication bridge between socio-ecological system and fields of knowledge
such as history, anthropology, geography, ecology, architecture. These and other
disciplines that focus on the study of space, culture, forms of appropriation, exploitation, and use that social groups make of resources, in a dialectical connection that
conditions certain dynamics, explain the characteristics of an environment and give
meaning to an area, zone, or region that differentiates it from others.
Thus, the existence of certain biotic and abiotic elements, their availability, their
function, appropriation, and meanings construct a landscape and socio-ecological
system that require different tools for their understanding and study. The link
between the socio-ecological system and landscape is therefore possible because
environmental, geological, ecological, social, economic, and cultural factors are
visualized within both of them, all of which account for the sociohistorical construction it experiences, through a process of transformation of space, nature, and
society. In addition, the analysis scale can acquire diverse dimensions, from different attributes or elements that support a geophysical, morphological, biotic, historical, symbolic composition with the development of certain collective practices
(from their specific linguistic, ethical, and esthetic appropriation); forms of interaction between social groups with their environment, with each other and in the way
they appropriate space; as well as through the material modification they exercise
over the natural environment (Vázquez and León 2015; Ruiz and Roque 2017;
Martínez and Soto n.d.).
Given the above, in this chapter, we analyze the forced transformation processes
that the “altiplano” in San Luis Potosí has undergone. The altiplano dryland is a
substantially valuable region which has been coveted and historically reconfigured
over the course of many years, starting from the confluence of assorted extractive,
developmentalist, and modernization processes.
Forced Modernization
There is a paradox in productive transformation processes, according to Tudela
(1989). One the one hand, there is a multiplication in investment, a wide use of
technological resources, increased productivity, and, in general, increased creation
of wealth. But, at the same time, they bring about processes of social and ecological
decline, generating setbacks in the quality of life.
6 Forced Modernization in Drylands: Socio-Ecological System Disruption…
biophysical and socio-economic dimensions on different spatial and temporal scales
through a variety of methods including recovery of local knowledge (Reed et al. 2011).
The proposal to contribute to the analysis of drylands as a socio-ecological system in the altiplano potosino, complemented by the approximation of the theoretical
framework of the landscape, sets forth not only the conjunction of the natural,
social, and cultural components, but the search for interdisciplinary dialogues that
point to a holistic understanding of complex processes. In this way, the interest in
combining the socio-ecological system and the landscape is to establish a connection that is largely unaddressed, if not nonexistent, in which the landscape becomes
a communication bridge between socio-ecological system and fields of knowledge
such as history, anthropology, geography, ecology, architecture. These and other
disciplines that focus on the study of space, culture, forms of appropriation, exploitation, and use that social groups make of resources, in a dialectical connection that
conditions certain dynamics, explain the characteristics of an environment and give
meaning to an area, zone, or region that differentiates it from others.
Thus, the existence of certain biotic and abiotic elements, their availability, their
function, appropriation, and meanings construct a landscape and socio-ecological
system that require different tools for their understanding and study. The link
between the socio-ecological system and landscape is therefore possible because
environmental, geological, ecological, social, economic, and cultural factors are
visualized within both of them, all of which account for the sociohistorical construction it experiences, through a process of transformation of space, nature, and
society. In addition, the analysis scale can acquire diverse dimensions, from different attributes or elements that support a geophysical, morphological, biotic, historical, symbolic composition with the development of certain collective practices
(from their specific linguistic, ethical, and esthetic appropriation); forms of interaction between social groups with their environment, with each other and in the way
they appropriate space; as well as through the material modification they exercise
over the natural environment (Vázquez and León 2015; Ruiz and Roque 2017;
Martínez and Soto n.d.).
Given the above, in this chapter, we analyze the forced transformation processes
that the “altiplano” in San Luis Potosí has undergone. The altiplano dryland is a
substantially valuable region which has been coveted and historically reconfigured
over the course of many years, starting from the confluence of assorted extractive,
developmentalist, and modernization processes.
Forced Modernization
There is a paradox in productive transformation processes, according to Tudela
(1989). One the one hand, there is a multiplication in investment, a wide use of
technological resources, increased productivity, and, in general, increased creation
of wealth. But, at the same time, they bring about processes of social and ecological
decline, generating setbacks in the quality of life.
6 Forced Modernization in Drylands: Socio-Ecological System Disruption…