Tensions in the social space since the inscription on the World Heritage List and the increase of tourism: The Salta and Jujuy case – Argentina

Abstract

This paper analyzes the social-spacial tensions that followed the inclusion of the Quebrada de Humahuaca on the World Heritage List (UNESCO) and the increase of tourism in Salta and Jujuy provinces. These are case studies on Quebrada de Humahuaca in general and, in particular, the small town of Iruya as a paradigmatic example of the transformations. The counter-cases are the Valles Calchaquíes and Quebrada del Toro regions in Salta, both of them candidates to be part of the World Heritage List (WHL). The tensions can be grouped in three axes: the value of land and its possession; the disposal and property of natural resources and the changes in cultural goods and social symbolic processes. Both cases present common features in the tensions running through, but they are different in the way actors position themselves towards the scenario. In the Quebrada and Iruya cases we analyze the struggle since the inclusion in the WHL and the development of –more or less successful- reconversion and recovery strategies. In this case, local actors defined a position when the tensions were already in an advanced state and their situation was to be clearly perceived as unfavorable. In the case of Saltean regions not yet included in the WHL, we analyze the practices that localcollective actors perform to analyze, intervene and capitalize the advantages and disadvantages of the ongoing transformations. With the example of the Quebrada and with the slogan “We don’t want for us what happened to Iruya” they try to position themselves in an active mode in the current scenario of tensions.