Land and territory: competing spatial modes

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper explores how coal extraction activities in La Guajira and Cesar, Colombia, are confronting the territorial claims of the local communities with the land claims of the coal companies. I argue that for the communities affected, this is not just a matter of land; it is also a matter of place. The paper introduces the concept of “territorial grabbing” as a way of understanding our spatial surroundings beyond considerations of land tenure, ownership, use, and occupation, taking into consideration symbolic and emotional structures, power relations, and social configurations involved in contexts of social occupation and appropriation. The paper presents how the actions and activities of the mining companies triggered processes of territorial grabbing, thus, confronting the communitieś spatial understandings with the spatial logic of the mining companies.