Hybridations of knowledge and cultural rationalities in fishing: living of the sea and at the sea in Andalucia (Spain) and Chiloe (Chile) within present day context

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to reflect upon the processes of knowledge construction of Andalusian fishermen (Southern Spain), linked to diverse forms of material and cognitive appropriation systems of marine environment. Making use of a set of anthropological concepts embedded in the post-structuralist and ontological turns, I seek to explain the relational modes –both practical and cognitive, that link organically the poles of Nature and Culture, so that their limits are dissolved (Naturo-cultural relationships). The analysis is based on three main axes: community, relationality and the role of technological artifacts in these relational webs of knowledge. After this conceptualization, it is discussed whether we could consider this cultural model as an ontology, in particular its forms of environmental knowledge. Finally it is proposed to reorient the normative systems of fisheries management, promoting a dialogue: on one hand, between the traditional and scientific knowledge; on the other hand, between artisanal/traditional patterns and industrialized and market economies at the Southern coast of Chile. Thus, the focus is placed on the hybridization of practices and knowledge, as well as on the consequences of their combinations in the political and economic fields.