An unlikely form of violence: conservation and conflict in the Chilean mountains

• Published in: Scottish geographical journal 2024-10, Vol.140 (3-4), p.541-562
• Main Authors: Espinoza Rivera, Gabriel, Skewes, Juan Carlos, Guerra, Debbie, Razeto, Jorge
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: conservation; Ecological effects; Endangered; Endangered species; Mountains; Political crises; pumas; Ranchers; Shape effects; state theory
• ISSN: 1470-2541; 1751-665X
• DOI: 10.1080/14702541.2024.2414024

This article explores the relationship between legal frameworks, mountain communities and the puma in Chile. Delving into the effects of how pumas' lives have been reshaped by myriad factors (economy, the law, and global change), we address the question of how 'killability' is distributed in one Chilean basin where the species is endangered: the Maule. We pay attention to a three-level relationship that distributes and sets the rules around the right to maim and kill bodies, encompassing the state's, rancher's and puma's intrusions. We explore the distribution of the 'killable' as ongoing effects and actions cast upon bodies. These actions shape interspecies and life-death ecological relationships. We continue by deepening into the contextual vulnerability of human and non-human lives forced to compete, or set new agreements, to improve and rearrange state mandates, experiencing the symptoms of an environmental and political crisis in which they must either endure or perish. Finally, we address how the interplay between economy, conservationism and animal lives redistribute the value of, and grievability among, species.