Short Abstract

People in mountain regions across the world are increasingly (re)claiming territorial belonging and ownership. Moving beyond the “West and the Rest” framework in discussing autochthony, indigeneity, and localisms, the panel examines how these territorial claims are differently articulated.

Long Abstract

Mountain areas worldwide are facing new forms of exploitation and extractivism, being perceived as the ultimate reserves of resources, as possible touristic destinations and potential places of refuge from rising temperatures and sprawling metropolises. In response to conflicts, frictions, and polarizations connected to this, people in mountain regions across the world are increasingly (re)claiming territorial belonging and ownership. While some communities demand a political acknowledgement of the value of their local and/or indigenous knowledge(s), some claim to autonomously decide who and how is entitled to manage their own environmental resources or infrastructures, and others are attaching emotional, ethical and identitarian meanings to their context-sensitive, ‘traditional’ practices.

This panel seeks to move beyond the “West and the Rest” framework in discussions of autochthony, indigeneity, localisms, and eco-populist discourses. We aim to examine differences, possible similarities, continuities and discontinuities in how territorial claims and narratives of belonging are articulated in mountain regions globally. While similar dynamics may be found elsewhere, mountains warrant special attention: they have long been imagined, also within anthropology, ethnology and folklore studies, as spaces of difference, Otherness, self-sufficiency, and autochthony. We especially welcome proposals that investigate the social, political, and historical conditions shaping mountain territorial claims, focusing on how these claims may assert boundaries and hierarchies of belonging, and/or cultivate solidaristic and inclusive forms of autonomy and care.

As societies worldwide seem to be increasingly “going indigenous”, we believe anthropologists, ethnologists, folklorists, and montologists are tasked not only with understanding these dynamics but also with finding ways to collaborate with people in mountain regions to co-develop tools and practices for building more just and equitable societies. We are also asking: how can researchers engage with communities navigating the manifold polarising forces related to environmental practices in mountain areas while generating more inclusive, participatory, and plural forms of belonging(s)?

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