Community ecotourism in the Sierra Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico: Between heritage and commodity

Authors

  • Mario Enrique Fuente Carrasco Instituto de Estudios Ambientales de la Universidad de la Sierra Juárez-Oaxaca (México)
  • Mario Fernando Ramos Morales Instituto de Estudios Ambientales de la Universidad de la Sierra Juárez-Oaxaca (México)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4013/otra.2013.712.04

Abstract

The article raises the dilemma of ecotourism in the Sierra Juarez, Oaxaca, Mexico: incorporating the biocultural heritage as a commodity in the tourism industry or insisting that it become the basis for intercultural dialogue using diff erent economic rules (viz. those of the solidarity economy). This dilemma is explored in the context of the community ecotourism enterprises in the Sierra Juarez of Oaxaca. The process is shaped by a combination of historical, cultural and public policy factors. The premises of orthodox economics have turned this heritage into a mere commodity. By changing the focus and using the epistemological alternative of the ecological and solidarity economics to understand the process from an intercultural perspective, the possibility of constructing “another” economy emerges.

Key words: ecotourism, community enterprise, Oaxaca, biocultural heritage.

Author Biographies

Mario Enrique Fuente Carrasco, Instituto de Estudios Ambientales de la Universidad de la Sierra Juárez-Oaxaca (México)

Profesor-Investigador tiempo completo titular “A” y Director del Instituto de Investigación de Estudios Ambientales de la Universidad de la Sierra Juárez (www.unsij.edu.mx) . Es Licenciado  en Biología y Doctor en Ciencias Ambientales. Miembro del Sistema Nacional de Investigadores del Consejo de Ciencia y Tecnología de México con el Nivel 1.   Áreas académicas: Aproximaciones epistémicas y praxis sociales vinculadas con la construcción de nichos de sustentabilidad: interculturalidad, género, turismo, agua, ruralidad, educación, políticas públicas.

Instituto de Estudios Ambientales de la Universidad de la Sierra Juárez-Oaxaca. Avenida Universidad s/n, Ixtlán de Juárez, Oaxaca-México. C.P. 68725.

Dirección electrónica: fuente@juppa.unsij.edu.mx

Mario Fernando Ramos Morales, Instituto de Estudios Ambientales de la Universidad de la Sierra Juárez-Oaxaca (México)

Profesor-investigador de tiempo completo, adscrito al Instituto de Estudio Ambientales, Posgrado en  Desarrollo Rural  en la Universidad Autónoma  Metropolitana – Unidad  Xochimilco. Líneas  de investigación actual; Filosofía comunal de vida: conocimiento y ética ambiental comunitaria, Cultura y desarrollo comunitario o local, Gestión Ambiental comunitaria.

Downloads

Published

2012-12-18

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 12 (2013): Volume VII - N. 12, 1st semester/2013

Section

Social Solidarity Economy: Experiences and subjects

License

I grant the journal Otra Economia the first publication of my article, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution license (which allows sharing of work, recognition of authorship and initial publication in this journal).

I confirm that my article is not being submitted to another publication and has not been published in its entirely on another journal. I take full responsibility for its originality and I will also claim responsibility for charges from claims by third parties concerning the authorship of the article.

I also agree that the manuscript will be submitted according to the journal’s publication rules described above.