Multiple territorialities and the shifting conservation frontiers of Patagonia

Abstract

This conclusion to the In-Focus issue examines the conservation frontier in Patagonia. The conservation frontier is a historical process of spatial transformation connected to the mobilization of imaginaries that unlock existing regimes of resource control and promote new territorialization projects. The discussion highlights the creation of national park systems, the securing of the contested border, and the conversion of Andean Patagonia into a space of sublime wilderness. We argue that the contemporary conservation frontier is an open field of contestation defined by its multiplicities. The articles comprising the special issue reflect crosscutting themes regarding frontier multiplicities: varied conservation-based territorialization projects; the genesis of onto-epistemic frictions between actors; and disparate frontier temporalities that anchor spatial transformations. These contemporary frontier projects draw attention to new avenues of change related to Indigenous self-rule and carework, co-management regimes, infrastructure building efforts, and eco-apocalyptic temporalities, as well as hyping the possibility of Patagonia as a bastion for alternative energy. Thus, this conclusion highlights how conservation frontiers are historically made and remade in relation to spatial production tied to capitalist dynamics and state formation.