Abstract

We analyze how the management of common immaterial resources affects the sustainable development of coastal areas. Based on an ethnographic research, we focus on the study of two marine productions, the sea urchin and the mussel, in four representative localities of the fishing-artisanal area of southern Chile. We observe two patterns through which global and/or local elites co-opt the symbolic value generated by local communities that lead to a common result: overexploitation of natural resources, environmental degradation, deterioration of the socioeconomic conditions of the population, and an disempowerment of communities for the benefit of elites. We conclude that the territories suffer the depredation of their common resources (material and immaterial) as a result of the rentier strategies of the elites (local bourgeoisie and transnational corporations).