Edgar N. Anderson with A. Dzib Xihum de Chen, Felix Medina True and Pastor Valdez Chale: Political Ecology in a Yucatec Maya Community

Abstract

The use of the term ‘political ecology’ in a title is often problematic because rarely does such a work actually use political ecology effectively. This is unfortunately just such a work. Edgar Anderson’s latest book is richly detailed and interesting but not a compelling story of the changing nature of livelihood among the Yucatec Maya of a community in Quintana Roo, Mexico. In reality it is more of a cultural ecology, albeit a contextualixed one, with ethnographic details that demonstrate extensive fieldwork and careful observation. But it does not fully engage and theorize the political reality in which these livelihoods are taking place. The book has a preface, eight chapters, an afterword, and several appendices. In the preface the author lays out the basic purpose of the book, how the research was done, and acknowledges whom he worked with. It also includes a helpful guide to Yucatec Maya geographic placement and a spelling and pronunciation guide to the language. Chapter 1, The Land of Not Much, describes the theoretical underpinnings of the book, which, as noted, are more cultural ecology than political ecology. The author highlights the tensions that surround research in ethnoecology—that is, do native peoples work in ‘harmony with nature’ as noble savages or do they do to land and resources whatever it takes to make a living. Anderson lands somewhere in the middle of the argument, although his tone is of a romantic (almost) pining for a lost past that was better than today. Anderson also discusses the development context, with a hint of antidevelopment sentiment, in which his study is situated. Lastly the chapter provides the reader with a solid and useful background in Maya history and prehistory. Chapter 2, Chunhuhub: The Environment, is dedicated to descriptions of the physical environment that are richly illustrated with Spanish and Maya names for landscape features. Chapter 3, Agriculture, builds on the reader’s understanding of the physical environment to painstakingly detail the agricultural repertoire found in Chunhuhub and surrounding area. This chapter is filled with the type of detail found in early cultural ecology, useful to some perhaps, but too much for a more general reader. It is clear that the Maya of this region have a very complex system of agriculture that has had to adapt to changing times for millennia, and Anderson leaves us with the message that agriculture as traditionally practiced is on the wane as interests and opportunities have changed. There are members of the population who are still very active in preserving the strategies of the past, but they are in decline. Chapter 4, Logging, is another descriptive chapter detailing a relatively new activity for the Yucatec Maya, the commercial use of their forest resources. Here we do see a hint of political ecology, an active engagement with the institutions and processes, local, regional, national, and global, that impact logging in Quintana Roo. Anderson leaves us cautiously optimistic about the future of this livelihood strategy as it could be productive in the long run but vulnerable to forces beyond the control of Chunhuhub. Chapter 5, The Lords of the Forest: Ideology and Biotic Resource Management, moves on to a description of the ideologic sphere. If Anderson had used Victor Toledo’s ethoecologic framework (Toledo, 2002), this would have Hum Ecol (2007) 35:509–510 DOI 10.1007/s10745-006-9079-0