Ce numéro thématique a pour ambition de contribuer à une meilleure compréhension des formes actuelles de gouvernance informationnelle de l’environnement en explorant le cas spécifique du partage en ligne des données des pouvoirs publics. La notion de « gouvernance informationnelle » de l’environnement désigne deux évolutions majeures marquant les formes de gestion des questions environnementales depuis les dernières décennies du XXe siècle : la constitution de l’information en un nouveau pili...

This paper investigates emerging logics in the production of environmental knowledge in Southern Brazil through the case study of a complex process launched in 2004 that led the state of Rio Grande do Sul to adopt a management tool known as “Environmental Zoning for Silvicultural Activity” (ZAS). In order to regulate the implantation of Eucalyptus, Pine, and Acacia tree-farms on its territory, the State Environmental Administration decided to regulate silvicultural activities by establishing a set of restrictions based on the ecological vulnerability of landscape units. A conflict between public administration, silvicultural companies, and environmentalist groups, led to a thorough reformulation of this zoning plan between 2007 and 2010. The companies succeeded in reducing the restrictions placed on their activity, however, environmentalist groups later successfully imposed the need to conserve biodiversity, most notably natural grasslands. The ZAS is innovative on a regional scale because it is the first attempt to regulate agrarian activities that underpin the advancement of the agricultural frontier over the natural grasslands of the Campos. It also represents the first legal definition of the physiognomy of this herbaceous vegetation, allowing conservation measures to be taken. We explore in this paper some salient aspects of this case study, representative of the current processes of environmental knowledge production in the neo-developmentist context of South America: The contribution of natural resource conflicts in the emergence and legitimation of new environmental categories; The greater capacity of multinational companies to reshape the legislation about environment management; The intensive use of free-access environmental geographical databases (public open data) during the zoning conflict, and the general consensus about the legitimacy of their use. We highlight how this use creates new ways of measuring environmental vulnerability and allows actors to implement new environmental strategies. In spite of being generally conceived as a factor of democratization of information and empowerment, environmental open data may reinforce asymmetries between actors in environmental controversies and the processes of knowledge production.

The increase in the price of gold, due to a shift to safe investments during the global economic crisis, has led to a rapid expansion of gold production. Alongside legal gold mines, wildcat gold mining has developed in French Guiana since the early 2000s. This phenomenon, with its social, environmental and economic consequences, is at the heart of the environmental governance of this territory. However, its difficult quantification is the subject of multiple controversies. Environmental governance is increasingly dependent on metrological regimes aimed at quantifying political action in order to objectify it. This article examines the role of metrology in implementing environmental policies in sparsely populated regions via the example of wildcat gold mining in French Guiana. Based on the study of two observatories, one managed by public authorities, the other by an NGO, we deconstruct their maps and counter-maps of wildcat gold mining. To do so, we make a distinction between measurement, commensuration and its diffusion. This focus on “measurement-commensuration-diffusion” allows us to identify three key phases in the production of nature statistics. We argue that the critical analysis of metrological processes through this three-step framework reveals methodological controversies that reflect different and even divergent political visions. The article also shows that metrological systems for environmental protection are the focus of targeted political disputes. It reports on the current disagreements—not only between the State and NGOs but also within the State itself—on the proposed solutions for fighting the impacts of wildcat gold mining in French Guiana and the broader issues of data production in Amazonia.

En Amérique latine, les peuples indigènes se caractérisent par une nouvelle « visibilité ». Pour comprendre ce processus, nous proposons une grille de lecture qui dépasse l’étude des dispositifs d’(in)visibilisation institutionnels pour reconnaître le protagonisme des indigènes. À partir de l’exemple des Wichis, qui vivent dans le Nord de l’Argentine, il s’agit de redonner sa place aux pratiques spatiales des indigènes afin de comprendre dans quelle mesure leur territorialité leur permet de se rendre visibles. Pour ce faire, nous analyserons leur mobilité et leur récente intégration en milieu urbain. Nous identifions divers « régimes de visibilité », au sens d’assemblages dynamiques d’éléments institutionnels et spatiaux, qui sont susceptibles de varier au fil du temps mais aussi de coexister selon l’espace pris en considération. L’analyse des nouvelles formes de visibilité des Wichis nous permet d’une part de remettre en cause une certaine essentialisation de leur identité, et, de l’autre, de proposer une géographie de leur visibilité.

Resumen El artículo discute sobre la neoliberalización de la naturaleza a partir del estudio de la reestatización de los servicios de distribución del agua potable y saneamiento en Uruguay durante el gobierno progresista del Frente Amplio. Se propone el concepto de “resiliencia neoliberal” para entender la reproducción de una lógica neoliberal en la gestión de estos servicios a pesar del reconocimiento del derecho humano al agua en la Constitución del país. A partir de una metodología cualitativa y cuantitativa, se reconstruye el proceso de privatización de los servicios hídricos y sus repercusiones sociales. Se identifican cuatro procesos que frenan la vuelta a servicios públicos y estatales: la permanencia de concesiones con capitales privados, la fragilización del sistema de subsidios cruzados, la desmovilización de la oposición y la inserción en un modelo de desarrollo económico neoliberal.