Historia Ambiental Latinoamericana y Caribeña (HALAC - E-Journal)
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Interdisciplinaridade em Ciências Ambientais: Monitoramento Ambiental na Prevenção de Futuras Pandemias
Get PDFThis article presents an analysis of interdisciplinarity in Environmental Science, focusing on preventing future pandemics. We also discuss about major health and humanitarian crises in history and their relationship to the environment. The research carried out was descriptive and exploratory and sough in the literature subsidies to discuss and reflect on the triad human, pandemic and environment. Regarding the dynamic relationship between the human and the environment, we emphasize that through an interdisciplinary dialogue, among actors belonging to the exact, biological, social and human sciences, more effective actions can be proposed to achieve a more sustainable Planet in the future. We propose the environmental monitoring tool to observe, know, infer and investigate public health challenges, with special attention to the prevention of epidemics and pandemics, among the different paths found.Este artigo apresenta uma análise sobre a interdisciplinaridade em Ciências Ambientais, com o foco na prevenção de futuras pandemias. Também discutimos sobre grandes crises sanitárias e humanitárias da história e suas relações com o ambiente. A pesquisa realizada foi de caráter descritivo e exploratório e buscou na literatura subsídios para discutir e refletir sobre a tríade ser humano, pandemia e ambiente. Considerando a relação dinâmica entre o ser humano e o ambiente, destacamos que por meio de um diálogo interdisciplinar, entre atores pertencentes às ciências exatas, biológicas, sociais e humanas, podem ser propostas ações mais efetivas para alcançarmos um Planeta mais sustentável no futuro. Dentre os diferentes caminhos encontrados, propomos a ferramenta de monitoramento ambiental para observar, conhecer, inferir e investigar sobre desafios de saúde pública, com especial atenção à prevenção de epidemias e pandemias.Este artigo apresenta uma análise sobre a interdisciplinaridade em Ciências Ambientais, com o foco na prevenção de futuras pandemias. Também discutimos sobre grandes crises sanitárias e humanitárias da história e suas relações com o ambiente. A pesquisa realizada foi de caráter descritivo e exploratório e buscou na literatura subsídios para discutir e refletir sobre a tríade ser humano, pandemia e ambiente. Considerando a relação dinâmica entre o ser humano e o ambiente, destacamos que por meio de um diálogo interdisciplinar, entre atores pertencentes às ciências exatas, biológicas, sociais e humanas, podem ser propostas ações mais efetivas para alcançarmos um Planeta mais sustentável no futuro. Dentre os diferentes caminhos encontrados, propomos a ferramenta de monitoramento ambiental para observar, conhecer, inferir e investigar sobre desafios de saúde pública, com especial atenção à prevenção de epidemias e pandemias
Uma Agenda de Investigação nas Humanidades Azuis: Exploração dos Ambientes Aquáticos e os 4 Oceanos em Épocas Pré-Industrialização
Get PDFComo podemos contar uma história humana num mundo mais-do-que-humano? Como se percebem as influências e consequências para pessoas e sociedades do mundo natural e físico que as envolve e do qual dependem para sobreviver, sem esquecer os vários agenciamentos envolvidos e interligados? E como o fazemos no mundo líquido, fluído, azul e profundo dos oceanos e águas costeiras do planeta? A problemática é histórica, mas reflete-se também na atualidade e futuro das sociedades humanas e sua relação e dependência dos ecossistemas e recursos dos mares e oceanos. Nesta nota científica abordo o valor das humanidades para o conhecimento histórico dos oceanos e o seu contributo para aumentar a literacia para os oceanos. Uso o caso de estudo da história natural e exploração de manatins com vista a perceber áreas de distribuição no passado e apresento o projeto interdisciplinar e colaborativo ‘4-Oceans’ e sua agenda de investigação. Para tal, revejo brevemente a história ambiental de manatins e pessoas no Atlântico da época moderna e refiro-me à importância de considerar os seres humanos como agentes ecológicos e outras espécies animais como co-construtores das narrativas históricas.Como podemos contar uma história humana num mundo mais-do-que-humano? Como se percebem as influências e consequências para pessoas e sociedades do mundo natural e físico que as envolve e do qual dependem para sobreviver, sem esquecer os vários agenciamentos envolvidos e interligados? E como o fazemos no mundo líquido, fluído, azul e profundo dos oceanos e águas costeiras do planeta? A problemática é histórica, mas reflete-se também na atualidade e futuro das sociedades humanas e sua relação e dependência dos ecossistemas e recursos dos mares e oceanos. Nesta nota científica abordo o valor das humanidades para o conhecimento histórico dos oceanos e o seu contributo para aumentar a literacia para os oceanos. Uso o caso de estudo da história natural e exploração de manatins com vista a perceber áreas de distribuição no passado e apresento o projeto interdisciplinar e colaborativo ‘4-Oceans’ e sua agenda de investigação. Para tal, revejo brevemente a história ambiental de manatins e pessoas no Atlântico da época moderna e refiro-me à importância de considerar os seres humanos como agentes ecológicos e outras espécies animais como co-construtores das narrativas históricas.Como podemos contar uma história humana num mundo mais-do-que-humano? Como se percebem as influências e consequências para pessoas e sociedades do mundo natural e físico que as envolve e do qual dependem para sobreviver, sem esquecer os vários agenciamentos envolvidos e interligados? E como o fazemos no mundo líquido, fluído, azul e profundo dos oceanos e águas costeiras do planeta? A problemática é histórica, mas reflete-se também na atualidade e futuro das sociedades humanas e sua relação e dependência dos ecossistemas e recursos dos mares e oceanos. Nesta nota científica abordo o valor das humanidades para o conhecimento histórico dos oceanos e o seu contributo para aumentar a literacia para os oceanos. Uso o caso de estudo da história natural e exploração de manatins com vista a perceber áreas de distribuição no passado e apresento o projeto interdisciplinar e colaborativo ‘4-Oceans’ e sua agenda de investigação. Para tal, revejo brevemente a história ambiental de manatins e pessoas no Atlântico da época moderna e refiro-me à importância de considerar os seres humanos como agentes ecológicos e outras espécies animais como co-construtores das narrativas históricas
Bonanza or False Riches: Changing Mexican Imaginaries of The Tropics and the Civilizing Impulse
Get PDFExisting scholarship on “tropicality” emphasizes how Europeans and US-Americans constructed the tropics discursively and visually in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Scientists, investors, and travelers denigrated tropical spaces to legitimize imperialism, labeling them backwards, racially degenerative, disease-ridden, and unconducive to civilization without white European intervention These works unwittingly reproduce a central assumption of the very imperialists they critique: namely, that North Atlantic elites controlled knowledge production. They thus marginalize the important theorizing and conceptualizing that transpired in tropical spaces. Following independence, Latin American national elites agonized over how to integrate their tropical territories, many of which remained isolated, and make them legible for economic modernization. This article uses Mexico as a case study for Latin American representations about the tropics given its diverse temperate and tropical geography, its key role in the global commercial economy, and its robust intellectual production. I argue that the ways in which Mexican intellectuals—public officials, geographers, philosophers, and others—thought about their low-lying tropical lands molded nation-building projects and contributed to the global production of environmental knowledge at a time when notions of tropical peril and degeneracy were giving way to the promise of tropical bonanza. By tracing the changes and continuities of Mexicans’ tropical discourses in a global context, I underscore the underappreciated environmental and geographic thought of influential Mexicans—from Matías Romero and Francisco Bulnes to José Vasconcelos—who rarely appear in environmental historiography. A focus on these different imaginaries regarding the significance, purpose, and place of Mexico’s tropical lands also reveals the extent to which material interventions in the tropics and discursive representations of the tropics have co-constituted each other.Existing scholarship on “tropicality” emphasizes how Europeans and US-Americans constructed the tropics discursively and visually in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Scientists, investors, and travelers denigrated tropical spaces to legitimize imperialism, labeling them backwards, racially degenerative, disease-ridden, and unconducive to civilization without white European intervention These works unwittingly reproduce a central assumption of the very imperialists they critique: namely, that North Atlantic elites controlled knowledge production. They thus marginalize the important theorizing and conceptualizing that transpired in tropical spaces. Following independence, Latin American national elites agonized over how to integrate their tropical territories, many of which remained isolated, and make them legible for economic modernization. This article uses Mexico as a case study for Latin American representations about the tropics given its diverse temperate and tropical geography, its key role in the global commercial economy, and its robust intellectual production. I argue that the ways in which Mexican intellectuals—public officials, geographers, philosophers, and others—thought about their low-lying tropical lands molded nation-building projects and contributed to the global production of environmental knowledge at a time when notions of tropical peril and degeneracy were giving way to the promise of tropical bonanza. By tracing the changes and continuities of Mexicans’ tropical discourses in a global context, I underscore the underappreciated environmental and geographic thought of influential Mexicans—from Matías Romero and Francisco Bulnes to José Vasconcelos—who rarely appear in environmental historiography. A focus on these different imaginaries regarding the significance, purpose, and place of Mexico’s tropical lands also reveals the extent to which material interventions in the tropics and discursive representations of the tropics have co-constituted each other.Existing scholarship on “tropicality” emphasizes how Europeans and US-Americans constructed the tropics discursively and visually in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Scientists, investors, and travelers denigrated tropical spaces to legitimize imperialism, labeling them backwards, racially degenerative, disease-ridden, and unconducive to civilization without white European intervention These works unwittingly reproduce a central assumption of the very imperialists they critique: namely, that North Atlantic elites controlled knowledge production. They thus marginalize the important theorizing and conceptualizing that transpired in tropical spaces. Following independence, Latin American national elites agonized over how to integrate their tropical territories, many of which remained isolated, and make them legible for economic modernization. This article uses Mexico as a case study for Latin American representations about the tropics given its diverse temperate and tropical geography, its key role in the global commercial economy, and its robust intellectual production. I argue that the ways in which Mexican intellectuals—public officials, geographers, philosophers, and others—thought about their low-lying tropical lands molded nation-building projects and contributed to the global production of environmental knowledge at a time when notions of tropical peril and degeneracy were giving way to the promise of tropical bonanza. By tracing the changes and continuities of Mexicans’ tropical discourses in a global context, I underscore the underappreciated environmental and geographic thought of influential Mexicans—from Matías Romero and Francisco Bulnes to José Vasconcelos—who rarely appear in environmental historiography. A focus on these different imaginaries regarding the significance, purpose, and place of Mexico’s tropical lands also reveals the extent to which material interventions in the tropics and discursive representations of the tropics have co-constituted each other
Olhares Aventureiros pelos Sertões de Goiás
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BARBO, Lenora (org.) Uma viagem pelo sertão: 200 anos de Saint-Hilaire em Goiás. Jundiaí-SP: Paco Editorial, 2021.Book Review
BARBO, Lenora (org.) Uma viagem pelo sertão: 200 anos de Saint-Hilaire em Goiás. Jundiaí-SP: Paco Editorial, 2021.Book Review
BARBO, Lenora (org.) Uma viagem pelo sertão: 200 anos de Saint-Hilaire em Goiás. Jundiaí-SP: Paco Editorial, 2021
La Problemática de la Conservación de los Recursos como Expresión Próxima del fin Último de la Perpetuidad del Poder en el Siglo XVII (Huancavelica, Perú, 1597-1645)
Get PDFThe objective of this article is to demonstrate in which semantic sense and as part of which problematics the concept of “conservation” was used by the functionaries of the Spanish Crown in the context of the American mining of mercury at the beginning of the XVIIth century. The problem of the conservation of the wealth of workers and the natural resources is not something exclusive of the last three centuries. It has had different manifestations in distinct times and according to the ideologies of the moment. In the West, this concerns have profoundly historical roots. With the end of contributing to its better understanding, this work has been divided in three parts: in the first one, the historical context of the mercury mine of Huancavelica at the beginning of the XVIIth century is presented; then, we continue the proper contextualization of this setting, with a brief history of the Royal Hospital of this locality. Finally, in the last chapter, we discuss the main topic of this essay, which is to demonstrate that for the Crown, the problem of conservation was understood in a political context, specially with close ties to the concern of the perpetuation of his power in America.El propósito de este artículo es exponer en qué contexto semántico y con que propósito se usó el concepto “conservación” por los funcionarios de la Corona española en la minería americana de mercurio al comenzar el siglo XVII. El problema de la conservación de la salud de los trabajadores y los recursos naturales no es algo exclusivo de los últimos tres siglos. Se ha manifestado de manera distinta en diversos tiempos de acuerdo a los intereses e idiosincrasias del momento. En Occidente, estas preocupaciones tienen profundas raíces históricas. Con el fin de contribuir a su conocimiento, se ha dividido este trabajo en tres apartados, en el primero se presenta el contexto histórico de la mina de Huancavelica al comenzar el siglo XVII, el segundo continua esta exposición con un breve recorrido por la historia del Hospital Real de Huancavelica. Finalmente, en el tercer apartado se aborda de lleno el propósito que es demostrar que para la Corona, la conservación tenía un sentido eminentemente político, ligado a la perpetuidad de su poder en la zona.El propósito de este artículo es exponer en qué contexto semántico y con que propósito se usó el concepto “conservación” por los funcionarios de la Corona española en la minería americana de mercurio al comenzar el siglo XVII. El problema de la conservación de la salud de los trabajadores y los recursos naturales no es algo exclusivo de los últimos tres siglos. Se ha manifestado de manera distinta en diversos tiempos de acuerdo a los intereses e idiosincrasias del momento. En Occidente, estas preocupaciones tienen profundas raíces históricas. Con el fin de contribuir a su conocimiento, se ha dividido este trabajo en tres apartados, en el primero se presenta el contexto histórico de la mina de Huancavelica al comenzar el siglo XVII, el segundo continua esta exposición con un breve recorrido por la historia del Hospital Real de Huancavelica. Finalmente, en el tercer apartado se aborda de lleno el propósito que es demostrar que para la Corona, la conservación tenía un sentido eminentemente político, ligado a la perpetuidad de su poder en la zona
The Caboclo Population of the Araucaria Forest of Santa Catarina: Common Use of Land, Expropriation and Marginalization
Get PDFFrom the end of the eighteenth century, a substantial portion of Santa Catarina state’s population settled in its region of Mixed Ombrophilous Forest or Araucaria Forest. Known as Caboclos, these people lived on the margins of the cattle ranches in the Grasslands region. Their basic source of income was subsistence farming and other practices linked to the exploration of common forest resources, such as breeding free-range pigs and harvesting yerba mate. Like land ownership and social life, access to these resources was regulated by a set of practices, norms and customs consistent and sustainable with this environment, which also served as a kind of territorial delimitation of these populations. The aim of this article is to analyze how the private appropriation of land – represented by colonization and the activities of the timber industry, which devastated the region’s forests, especially from the first two decades of the twentieth century onwards – led to the disintegration of spaces of common use, increased the instances of expropriation, and exacerbated the marginalization of this Caboclo population.From the end of the eighteenth century, a substantial portion of Santa Catarina state’s population settled in its region of Mixed Ombrophilous Forest or Araucaria Forest. Known as Caboclos, these people lived on the margins of the cattle ranches in the Grasslands region. Their basic source of income was subsistence farming and other practices linked to the exploration of common forest resources, such as breeding free-range pigs and harvesting yerba mate. Like land ownership and social life, access to these resources was regulated by a set of practices, norms and customs consistent and sustainable with this environment, which also served as a kind of territorial delimitation of these populations. The aim of this article is to analyze how the private appropriation of land – represented by colonization and the activities of the timber industry, which devastated the region’s forests, especially from the first two decades of the twentieth century onwards – led to the disintegration of spaces of common use, increased the instances of expropriation, and exacerbated the marginalization of this Caboclo population.From the end of the eighteenth century, a substantial portion of Santa Catarina state’s population settled in its region of Mixed Ombrophilous Forest or Araucaria Forest. Known as Caboclos, these people lived on the margins of the cattle ranches in the Grasslands region. Their basic source of income was subsistence farming and other practices linked to the exploration of common forest resources, such as breeding free-range pigs and harvesting yerba mate. Like land ownership and social life, access to these resources was regulated by a set of practices, norms and customs consistent and sustainable with this environment, which also served as a kind of territorial delimitation of these populations. The aim of this article is to analyze how the private appropriation of land – represented by colonization and the activities of the timber industry, which devastated the region’s forests, especially from the first two decades of the twentieth century onwards – led to the disintegration of spaces of common use, increased the instances of expropriation, and exacerbated the marginalization of this Caboclo population
Between Horizontality and Verticality: Infrastructures and Geographical Imaginaries in Post-Colonial Peru
Get PDFThis article analyzes the different geographical imaginaries that emerged in Peru after independence and how they were shaped and molded by the infrastructures that were imposed upon complex landscapes. I argue that horizontal geographical conceptions of the Peruvian territory were reinforced by the development of “communication” infrastructures, specifically road building, which depicted the Andean Mountain chain as an obstacle towards national integration. Conversely, from the middle of the twentieth onwards, vertical depictions of Peruvian geography emerged, fueled by the construction of large-scale hydroelectric plants, which depended on the very complexity of Andean topography which made the construction of other types of infrastructures difficult. In this vertical conception, the complexity of the Andes not only had to be “conquered,” but also skillfully “harnessed.” Both horizontal and vertical imaginaries of Peruvian geography coexisted, furthering the notion that Peruvian geography presented both a problem and a possibility for the pursuit of national development.This article analyzes the different geographical imaginaries that emerged in Peru after independence and how they were shaped and molded by the infrastructures that were imposed upon complex landscapes. I argue that horizontal geographical conceptions of the Peruvian territory were reinforced by the development of “communication” infrastructures, specifically road building, which depicted the Andean Mountain chain as an obstacle towards national integration. Conversely, from the middle of the twentieth onwards, vertical depictions of Peruvian geography emerged, fueled by the construction of large-scale hydroelectric plants, which depended on the very complexity of Andean topography which made the construction of other types of infrastructures difficult. In this vertical conception, the complexity of the Andes not only had to be “conquered,” but also skillfully “harnessed.” Both horizontal and vertical imaginaries of Peruvian geography coexisted, furthering the notion that Peruvian geography presented both a problem and a possibility for the pursuit of national development.This article analyzes the different geographical imaginaries that emerged in Peru after independence and how they were shaped and molded by the infrastructures that were imposed upon complex landscapes. I argue that horizontal geographical conceptions of the Peruvian territory were reinforced by the development of “communication” infrastructures, specifically road building, which depicted the Andean Mountain chain as an obstacle towards national integration. Conversely, from the middle of the twentieth onwards, vertical depictions of Peruvian geography emerged, fueled by the construction of large-scale hydroelectric plants, which depended on the very complexity of Andean topography which made the construction of other types of infrastructures difficult. In this vertical conception, the complexity of the Andes not only had to be “conquered,” but also skillfully “harnessed.” Both horizontal and vertical imaginaries of Peruvian geography coexisted, furthering the notion that Peruvian geography presented both a problem and a possibility for the pursuit of national development
Science and the Green Revolution in the Brazilian Amazon: The Establishment of Embrapa during of the Civilian-Military Dictatorship and the Emergence of Environmental Movements (1972-1991)
Get PDFThe Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation), known by the acronym Embrapa, was established in 1972 under Brazil’s civilian-military dictatorship with the purpose of fostering agricultural modernization through the incorporation of the Green Revolution’s technology package, which included reliance on chemical inputs and high-yielding hybrid seeds and the mechanization of production. This article explores the context in which the agency was established and its scientific research agenda for Brazilian agriculture, while also examining both the influence of emerging environmentalist movements on discussions of the economic exploitation of the Amazon as well as the agency’s profile during the period of redemocratization in Brazil. The focus of our analysis is on the agency branch known as the Humid Tropics Agricultural Research Center (Centro de Pesquisa Agropecuária do Trópico Úmido, or CPATU), which opened in Belém, Pará, in 1975. The text follows the path of the CPATU through 1991, when it became the Eastern Amazon Agroforestry Research Center (Centro de Pesquisa Agroflorestal da Amazônia Oriental), now Embrapa Eastern Amazon (Embrapa Amazônia Oriental).The Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation), known by the acronym Embrapa, was established in 1972 under Brazil’s civilian-military dictatorship with the purpose of fostering agricultural modernization through the incorporation of the Green Revolution’s technology package, which included reliance on chemical inputs and high-yielding hybrid seeds and the mechanization of production. This article explores the context in which the agency was established and its scientific research agenda for Brazilian agriculture, while also examining both the influence of emerging environmentalist movements on discussions of the economic exploitation of the Amazon as well as the agency’s profile during the period of redemocratization in Brazil. The focus of our analysis is on the agency branch known as the Humid Tropics Agricultural Research Center (Centro de Pesquisa Agropecuária do Trópico Úmido, or CPATU), which opened in Belém, Pará, in 1975. The text follows the path of the CPATU through 1991, when it became the Eastern Amazon Agroforestry Research Center (Centro de Pesquisa Agroflorestal da Amazônia Oriental), now Embrapa Eastern Amazon (Embrapa Amazônia Oriental).The Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation), known by the acronym Embrapa, was established in 1972 under Brazil’s civilian-military dictatorship with the purpose of fostering agricultural modernization through the incorporation of the Green Revolution’s technology package, which included reliance on chemical inputs and high-yielding hybrid seeds and the mechanization of production. This article explores the context in which the agency was established and its scientific research agenda for Brazilian agriculture, while also examining both the influence of emerging environmentalist movements on discussions of the economic exploitation of the Amazon as well as the agency’s profile during the period of redemocratization in Brazil. The focus of our analysis is on the agency branch known as the Humid Tropics Agricultural Research Center (Centro de Pesquisa Agropecuária do Trópico Úmido, or CPATU), which opened in Belém, Pará, in 1975. The text follows the path of the CPATU through 1991, when it became the Eastern Amazon Agroforestry Research Center (Centro de Pesquisa Agroflorestal da Amazônia Oriental), now Embrapa Eastern Amazon (Embrapa Amazônia Oriental)
Mujeres con “La Soja al Cuello”. Experiencias y Evidencias en Torno a la Contaminación de Cuerpos y Territorios en Buenos Aires
Get PDFEl uso intensivo de plaguicidas en la actividad agrícola ha configurado múltiples efectos socioambientales entre los que se destacan la contaminación de aguas y la aparición de diversas patologías en la población. Este artículo aborda un estudio de caso radicado en el partido de Pergamino, provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Mediante el análisis de prensa gráfica, documentos de investigación, informes de peritos, la totalidad de una causa judicial, así como de entrevistas realizadas a residentes, investigadores y querellantes, se analizan dos ejes. Por un lado, se reconstruyen experiencias de vida de mujeres afectadas. Por otro lado, se problematiza el lugar que ocupan en esta problemática estas experiencias y las evidencias que son instadas a presentar para probar los daños asociados. Las conclusiones señalan que el proceso de construcción de la evidencia científica opera en forma divergente cuando involucra ámbitos oficiales y cuando es demandada a población afectada. La depredación de los cuerpos y las aguas es posibilitada por diversos mecanismos institucionales, jurídicos, discursivos y materiales que fragmentan situaciones comunes y construyen a los efectos ambientales y sanitarios en episodios aislados. De este modo, la inversión de la carga de prueba se presenta como una de las condiciones necesarias para la expansión de estas prácticas productivas.El uso intensivo de plaguicidas en la actividad agrícola ha configurado múltiples efectos socioambientales entre los que se destacan la contaminación de aguas y la aparición de diversas patologías en la población. Este artículo aborda un estudio de caso radicado en el partido de Pergamino, provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Mediante el análisis de prensa gráfica, documentos de investigación, informes de peritos, la totalidad de una causa judicial, así como de entrevistas realizadas a residentes, investigadores y querellantes, se analizan dos ejes. Por un lado, se reconstruyen experiencias de vida de mujeres afectadas. Por otro lado, se problematiza el lugar que ocupan en esta problemática estas experiencias y las evidencias que son instadas a presentar para probar los daños asociados. Las conclusiones señalan que el proceso de construcción de la evidencia científica opera en forma divergente cuando involucra ámbitos oficiales y cuando es demandada a población afectada. La depredación de los cuerpos y las aguas es posibilitada por diversos mecanismos institucionales, jurídicos, discursivos y materiales que fragmentan situaciones comunes y construyen a los efectos ambientales y sanitarios en episodios aislados. De este modo, la inversión de la carga de prueba se presenta como una de las condiciones necesarias para la expansión de estas prácticas productivas.El uso intensivo de plaguicidas en la actividad agrícola ha configurado múltiples efectos socioambientales entre los que se destacan la contaminación de aguas y la aparición de diversas patologías en la población. Este artículo aborda un estudio de caso radicado en el partido de Pergamino, provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Mediante el análisis de prensa gráfica, documentos de investigación, informes de peritos, la totalidad de una causa judicial, así como de entrevistas realizadas a residentes, investigadores y querellantes, se analizan dos ejes. Por un lado, se reconstruyen experiencias de vida de mujeres afectadas. Por otro lado, se problematiza el lugar que ocupan en esta problemática estas experiencias y las evidencias que son instadas a presentar para probar los daños asociados. Las conclusiones señalan que el proceso de construcción de la evidencia científica opera en forma divergente cuando involucra ámbitos oficiales y cuando es demandada a población afectada. La depredación de los cuerpos y las aguas es posibilitada por diversos mecanismos institucionales, jurídicos, discursivos y materiales que fragmentan situaciones comunes y construyen a los efectos ambientales y sanitarios en episodios aislados. De este modo, la inversión de la carga de prueba se presenta como una de las condiciones necesarias para la expansión de estas prácticas productivas