Una experiencia comparada de trabajo etnográfico entre España y México, o la ecología cultural revisitada

Abstract

Contrary to frequent statements in the literature since the 19th century, the use of the comparative method in anthropology has been more apparent, or programmatic, than real. Worth mentioning exceptions in both Spanish anthropology and the anthropology of the Americas are studies by J. M. Arguedas, G. Foster, M. Gutierrez Estevez and C. Gimenez. Exceptions such as these confirm the rule. The author came across this methodological paradox while doing research with Mexican anthropologist Andres Fabregas Puig for a project of comparative cultural ecology in the Jalisco highlands of Mexico and the Avila mountain range of Spain. The comparison between the two areas, as well as the reciprocal reflections of both ethnographers while carrying out the project, revealed unexpected findings and differences —and other surprises— in what otherwise seemed two similar cultural ecologies.