Embargoed until 2026-12-18
Author
Date
2023Type
- Doctoral Thesis
ETH Bibliography
yes
Altmetrics
Abstract
The irrigation system of Canton Valais in Switzerland constitutes an extensive network of channels and hydraulic installations that have shaped the region’s cultural landscape as a whole. Also referred to as bisses or Suonen, this this long-standing irrigation common provides a model for the successful governance of a common-pool resource over centuries. This research re-conceptualizes this irrigation system as a “landscape common” and seeks to gain insights into the fundaments of its resilience.
Swiss commons of many kinds have been the subject of extensive research within the fields of political science, history, geography, and anthropology. Many of these studies have focused on the resilience of the commons, primarily from an institutional standpoint. While the issues related to landscape are increasingly discussed within current commons research, a perspective from the field of landscape theory is still lacking. Through an investigation of the bisses from the standpoint of landscape theory, this research outlines the basis for their resilience by conceptualizing them as “landscape commons,” paying particular attention to their temporal regimes, while also investigating their spatial, technical, and material character.
In conversation with established commons theory, this research draws from a wide range of scientific literature engaged with the study of landscape. Furthermore, it places the many existing case studies of the bisses within a broader understanding of “landscape commons.” With the bisses as point of focus, it highlights the fundamental role of landscape stewardship ethos of care in the reproduction of commons. In the context of the bisses, “commoning” is rethought as a potentially inclusive and equitable practice that brings together humans and non-humans within a network of relations and landscape processes. The research apprehends the future of a multi-dimensional landscape, wherein the bisses serve a multiplicity of uses beyond irrigation. A set of principles are offered to explain the underlying logics of resilient “landscape commons,” and an alternate conception of resilience is put forth, one based in the ethos of care that can still be found embedded within the bodies of knowledge and practices that sustain the bisses. From this research emerge insights into possible ways to construct and sustain resilient “landscape commons.” Show more
Permanent link
https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000647399Publication status
publishedExternal links
Search print copy at ETH Library
Publisher
ETH ZurichSubject
landscape common; resilience; Cultural landscape; Common-pool resources; commoning; water governance; Valais (Switzerland); bisses; Suonen; irrigation; Irrigation canalOrganisational unit
09643 - Avermaete, Tom / Avermaete, Tom02655 - Netzwerk Stadt u. Landschaft ARCH u BAUG / Network City and Landscape ARCH and BAUG
More
Show all metadata
ETH Bibliography
yes
Altmetrics