The Chicken and the Quetzal : Incommensurate Ontologies and Portable Values in Guatemala's Cloud Forest

Prés. de l'éd.: In The Chicken and the Quetzal Paul Kockelman theorizes the creation, measurement, and capture of value by recounting the cultural history of a village in Guatemala's highland cloud forests and its relation to conservation movements and ecotourism. In 1990 a group of German ecologists founded an NGO to help preserve the habitat of the resplendent quetzal-the strikingly beautiful national bird of Guatemala-near the village of Chicacnab. The ecotourism project they established in Chicacnab was meant to provide new sources of income for its residents so they would abandon farming methods that destroyed quetzal habitat. The pressure on villagers to change their practices created new values and forced negotiations between indigenous worldviews and the conservationists' goals. Kockelman uses this story to offer a sweeping theoretical framework for understanding the entanglement of values as they are interpreted and travel across different and often incommensurate ontological worlds. His theorizations apply widely to studies of the production of value, the changing ways people make value portable, and value's relationship to ontology, affect, and selfhood Cover 1 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction: Enclosure and Disclosure 14 A Strange Form of Sovereignty 14 Enclosure and Disclosure 16 The Portability of Value 19 Summary of Chapters 20 Chapter 1. NGOs, Ecotourists, and Endangered Avifauna: Immaterial Labor, Incommensurate Values, and Intersubjective Intentions 26 Early Scientific Expedition 26 Other Interventions as an NGO 30 Early Days of Ecotourism 33 Beautiful Simplicity 35 Ecotourism in Alta Verapaz 36 Environs and Employees of the Ecotourism Project 37 Priming the Ecotourism Experience 40 Being an Ecotourist 44 Standards and Singularities 51 Immaterial Labor, Incommensurate Values, and Intersubjective Intentions 54 Chapter 2. A Mayan Ontology of Poultry: Selfhood, Affect, and Animals 62 Birds as Emblems of Eras and Identities 62 Frames of Value 64 A Brief History of Loan Words and Loan Birds 66 Taxonomies as Denotational and Connotational Domains 67 Chickens as Addressees and Affines 69 Ontologies Disclosed in the Midst of Discursive Disruptions 72 Ontology 72 Social Relations Mediated by Chickens 76 Selfhood 81 Brooding Hens, Tabooed Acts, Corporate Units of Accountability 84 Reason, Desire, and Domestic Animals 86 Chickens and Children 89 Signs of Fear, Cowardice, Anxiety, and Gender 90 Ride of the Chicken Hawks, Effervescence of a Community 91 Affect 93 Chapter 3. From Reciprocation to Replacement: Grading Use Values, Labor Power, and Personhood 100 Apples and Oranges, Coffee and Corn 100 Becoming Use Value 103 Modes of Replacement 106 Earthenware Griddles and Metal Griddles 113 Comparing Men, Boys, Women, and Money 117 Potentia and Personhood 124 Sufficiency, Subjectivity, and Substitutability 126 Entities, Qualities, Quantities, Necessities 128 “The Most Prophetic Pointer Ever Made in the Realm of Social Science” 133 Qualia, Quantia, and Equalia 135 Chapter 4. From Measurement to Meaning: Standardizing and Certifying Homes and Their Inhabitance 138 High­Quality but Uninhabitable Homes 138 Capacitation and Commensuration 140 The NGO Gauges and Grades Its Own Interventions 143 Standardization, Certification, Internalization 145 Techniques of Measurements 147 Grading Homes 151 Grading People 153 Gender Hierarchies and Age Grades 156 Precision and Decoration of Homes, Parasites and Hosts 157 From Contract to Status 161 Value and Meaning Revisited 164 An Epilogue of Sorts 167 Conclusion: Paths, Portability, and Parasites 170 Going Awry, Leading Astray 170 Frame, Failure, Function 172 Topologies of (and in) Transformation 174 Some Paths to and through Chicacnab 177 Portability Revisited 178 Overtakings and Undertakings 181 Notes 184 References 190 Index 202 Kockelman Theorizes The Creation, Measurement, And Capture Of Value By Recounting The Cultural History Of A Village In Guatemala's Highland Cloud Forests And Its Relation To Conservation Movements And Eco-tourism. In 1990 A Group Of German Ecologists Founded An Ngo To Help Preserve The Habitat Of The Resplendent Quetzal - The Strikingly Beautiful National Bird Of Guatemala - Near The Village Of Chicacnab. The Eco-tourism Project They Estatablished In Chicacnab Was Meant To Provide New Sources Of Income For Its Residents So They Would Abandon Farming Methods That Destroyed Quetzal Habitat. The Pressure On Villagers To Change Their Practices Created New Values And Forced Negotiations Between Indigenous Worldviews And The Conservationists' Goals. Kockelman Uses This Story To Offer A Sweeping Theoretical Framework For Understanding The Entanglement Of Values As They Are Interpreted And Travel Across Different And Often Incommensurate Ontological Worlds. His Theorizations Apply Widely To Studies Of The Production Of Value, The Changing Ways People Make Value Portable, And Value's Relationship To Ontology, Affect, And Selfhood.--page 4 Of Cover. Ngos, Ecotourists, And Endangered Avifauna: Immaterial Labor, Incommensurate Values, And Intersubjective Intentions -- A Mayan Ontology Of Poultry: Selfhood, Affect, And Animals -- From Reciprocation To Replacement: Grading Use Values, Labor Power, And Personhood -- From Measurement To Meaning: Standardizing And Certifying Homes And Their Inhabitance. Paul Kockelman. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 177-188) And Index. Prés. de l'éd.: In The Chicken and the Quetzal Paul Kockelman theorizes the creation, measurement, and capture of value by recounting the cultural history of a village in Guatemala's highland cloud forests and its relation to conservation movements and ecotourism. In 1990 a group of German ecologists founded an NGO to help preserve the habitat of the resplendent quetzal-the strikingly beautiful national bird of Guatemala-near the village of Chicacnab. The ecotourism project they established in Chicacnab was meant to provide new sources of income for its residents so they would abandon farming methods that destroyed quetzal habitat. The pressure on villagers to change their practices created new values and forced negotiations between indigenous worldviews and the conservationists' goals. Kockelman uses this story to offer a sweeping theoretical framework for understanding the entanglement of values as they are interpreted and travel across different and often incommensurate ontological worlds. His theorizations apply widely to studies of the production of value, the changing ways people make value portable, and value's relationship to ontology, affect, and selfhood