Conservation, development and self-commodification: doing ethnography in the Italian Alps
Title:
Conservation, development and self-commodification: doing ethnography in the Italian Alps
Author:
Grasseni, Cristina
Appeared in:
Journal of modern Italian studies
Paging:
Volume 12 (2007) nr. 4 pages 440-449
Year:
2007-12
Contents:
This paper is based on about a decade of fieldwork in an alpine valley of northern Italy. It examines both European-directed and local initiatives that may help rethink 'development', especially in relation to the transformation of the traditional practice of dairy breeding and cheese-making. Several areas of mountainous Lombardy, in northern Italy, are currently classified as 'marginal rural areas' and are therefore recipients of European aid for 'local development'. They are nevertheless located right in the middle of one of the most densely-populated and economically-thriving regions of Europe, lying close to its financial, industrial and commercial heart: Milan. Yet, they suffer from lack of infrastructure and become depopulated. One of the strategies that are currently being invoked both at local and at European level involves 'sustainable development', often naively interpreted as 'encouraging various forms of eco-ethno-tourism'. Consequently, a number of initiatives are being planned, funded and established from eco-museums and revivals of folk festivals to religious events, to the rediscovery of local recipes and products.
Journal description