Akteure und Perspektiven der Bananenwirtschaft auf La Palma
- Author(s)
- Norbert Weixlbaumer, Anna Wiplinger
- Abstract
On the Western Canaries, especially on the island of La Palma, banana production supports the livelihood of a significant proportion of the regional population and has a certain influence on the cultural landscape. Since the beginning of the 21st century the organic banana was successfully introduced as a possible alternative and complement to the conventional cultivation. It is based on a specific actor-network, which will be the object of research of this article.
The empirical approaches applied included interviews with different people from the fields of production, marketing and administration as well as exploratory observations. This article aims at analysing the dynamics within the actor-network. It will be discussed how the individual actors support or impose limits to the network. The foundation of this research was determined through the "Actor-Network-Theory" as well as the "Follow the thing approach" which contribute to a better understanding of the complexity of the area of research. The prospects of the network's development will be analysed with regard to possibilities and potential obstacles.
The results of the investigation show that material and immaterial resources are as important as the actors who are connected by heterogeneous relations. The interlinking of all these components creates the main framework of the network of the organic banana. Concerning the actors' objectives there can be mainly identified two different intentions. Although there are numerous actors who support the organic cultivation of the banana for environmental and/or ethic reasons, we can also find as many actors who act particularly for economic reasons.- Organisation(s)
- Department of Geography and Regional Research
- External organisation(s)
- Unknown External Organisation Österreich
- Journal
- Mitteilungen der Österreichischen Geographischen Gesellschaft
- Volume
- 162
- Pages
- 313-342
- No. of pages
- 30
- ISSN
- 0029-9138
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1553/moegg162s313
- Publication date
- 2020
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 507015 Regional research, 507026 Economic geography, 507016 Regional economy, 507010 Political geography
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Geography, Planning and Development, Earth-Surface Processes
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/e71b7d83-f7a6-4615-a901-3eeaa52d49a9