Cecilia G. Salinas (2011). Añorada Esperanza. Respuestas locales a las politicas neoliberales: Uruguay y la industria de la celulosa.
Añorada Esperanza (Wistful Hope) is an in-depth ethnographic study of local experiences with global economic processes. Based on fieldwork conducted for five months in 2008-2009, the book analyses the recent installation of a Finnish pulp mill in a rural town in Uruguay.
The installation of the pulp industry in Uruguay was accompanied by a hegemonic discourse of progress promoted by both national and international actors. However, empirical examples are presented to illustrate the fact that this industry did not lead to "progress" in the local community as it was promoted. Yet despite of that the company continued to have widespread support among the local population. The author argues that the concept of hope is an important analytical concept to understand this phenomenon as well as other effects of neoliberal economic processes on local communities.
The central empirical study is a rich analysis of the 2009 local carnival. This carnival is used as an entry to understand how global financial processes are embedded in the local worlds.
Publisher
Editorial Antropofagia, Buenos Aires, Argentina
English version
Cecilia Salinas' master dissertation and an abstract is also available in English: Wistful hope: local responses to neo-liberal politics: Uruguay and the pulp industry.