Rainforest Cowboys: The Rise of Ranching and Cattle Culture in Western Amazonia (Latin American and Caribbean Arts and Culture Publication Initiative, Mellon Foundation) - Softcover

Hoelle, Jeffrey

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1477310606 ISBN 13: 9781477310601

Publisher: University of Texas Press, 2015

Synopsis

This ambitious interdisciplinary study is the first to examine the interlinked economic uses and cultural practices and beliefs surrounding cattle in Western Amazonia, where cattle raising is at the center of debates about economic development and environ

Winner, Brazil Section Book Award, Latin American Studies Association, 2016

The opening of the Amazon to colonization in the 1970s brought cattle, land conflict, and widespread deforestation. In the remote state of Acre, Brazil, rubber tappers fought against migrant ranchers to preserve the forest they relied on, and in the process, these “forest guardians” showed the world that it was possible to unite forest livelihoods and environmental preservation. Nowadays, many rubber tappers and their children are turning away from the forest-based lifestyle they once sought to protect and are becoming cattle-raisers or even caubois (cowboys). Rainforest Cowboys is the first book to examine the social and cultural forces driving the expansion of Amazonian cattle raising in all of their complexity.

Drawing on eighteen months of fieldwork, Jeffrey Hoelle shows how cattle raising is about much more than beef production or deforestation in Acre, even among “carnivorous” environmentalists, vilified ranchers, and urbanites with no land or cattle. He contextualizes the rise of ranching in relation to political economic structures and broader meanings to understand the spread of “cattle culture.” This cattle-centered vision of rural life builds on local experiences and influences from across the Americas and even resembles East African cultural practices. Written in a broadly accessible and interdisciplinary style, Rainforest Cowboys is essential reading for a global audience interested in understanding the economic and cultural features of cattle raising, deforestation, and the continuing tensions between conservation and development in the Amazon.

About this title

About the Author

Jeffrey Hoelle is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Texas Press
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1477310606
• ISBN 13: 9781477310601
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 212