Article ID: CBB945769590

But Is It a Basin? Science, Controversy, and Conspiracy in the Fight for Mirador, Guatemala (2015)

unapi

The ancient Maya city of Mirador, located in the northeastern corner of Guatemala's Maya Biosphere Reserve, is at the heart of a raging scientific and political controversy. On the surface, the conflict centers around the geological definition of a ‘basin’ surrounding the magnificent site. One side uses the existence of a basin—backed up by satellite images and analyses—to push for redrawing the boundaries of the reserve, arguing that the feature naturally delineates key archaeological and ecological sites and that current reserve management is failing the forests. The other side insists that there is no geological basin—a contention also backed by satellite images and analyses—and that redrawing the lines would undermine more than 20 years of conservation efforts. On both sides of the fight, rumors abound about secret agendas, manipulated data, backroom political deals, and other shady business. These conspiracy stories reveal how paranoid thought is simultaneously a powerful epistemology and a practical political strategy, both of which shape the production and interpretation of scientific facts. Rather than contrasting irrational political rumor with logical scientific fact, or considering the former as simply context for the latter, the case of Mirador demonstrates how the two are deeply entangled ways of acting on and making sense of a complex landscape.

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Authors & Contributors
Whitney, Kristoffer Jon
Iwaniszewski, Stanislaw
Alfonso De Nardo
Havlick, David G.
Margaret H. Friedel
D. Mark Stafford Smith
Concepts
Controversies and disputes
Science and politics
Mayan civilization
Landscape; landscapes
Conservation and restoration
Native American civilization and culture
Time Periods
21st century
20th century
19th century
20th century, late
Precolumbian period (America)
Medieval
Places
Guatemala
United States
Italy
Australia
Mexico
Apennines
Institutions
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) (Australia)
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