Instituting Nature

Oaxaca offers residents, travelers, and scientists a kaleidoscope of ecological diversity—from the colorful traje (clothing) of ethnic groups to multitudinousplant and animal life expressed in the various species of maize and the complex range from alpine to tropical forests. In this superb analysis, Andrew S. Mathews captures the interplay of indigenous, government, business, and environmental interests competing to control the forests. Much more than an examination of political policy, ecological exploitation, and conservationist efforts, Mathews's book provides readers with a thoughtful meditation on contemporary issues of Oaxaca's forests.

William H. Beezley, Professor of History, University of Arizona

In this fabulously readable contribution to the anthropology of the state and of scientific and practical knowledge, Andrew Mathews reinforces his anthropological sensibilities with an agronomist's keenly trained eye and an archival historian's capacity for patient detection. As interested in ignorance as in knowledge, and with illuminating emphasis on role performance in the projection of expertise, he reconstructs how, in one small corner of Mexico, local people—bureaucrats included!—have colluded in sidestepping official indifference and exploitative greed toward on-the-ground social and natural realities, thereby often unexpectedly extending the life of a crucial natural resource.

Michael Herzfeld, Professor of Anthropology, Harvard University, author of Evicted from Eternity

I like this book because it presents a useful analysis of a new aspect of state theory and development by integrating it with debates about science policy, science studies, and expertise. Moreover, it does so in a clear, scholarly, and empirically strong way. At various times while reading this book I found myself thinking that my students should read it, nodding my head in agreement, or wishing that there were more books like it.

Tim Forsyth, Department of International Development, London School of Economics and Political Science

…Mathews offers a provocative, new approach to environmental research, one that is rooted in anthropology and social forestry but would be equally at home in a geography, sociology, conservation biology, STS, or policy class. The text would be highly useful for graduate students and senior-level undergraduates.

Nora Haenn

Human Ecology

In this fascinating book, Andrew Mathews studies, with much great detail and in great depth, the ways in which Mexico dealt with the protection and management of forests in the twentieth century, particularly between 1926 and 2001. Mathews's study, which is wonderfully researched and very well written, traces the roles of the modern state, bureaucracy, science, conservation, and indigenous communities, among other factors, in the dynamic between Mexican forests and the people that surround them.

Camilo Quintero

ISIS

Andrew Mathews has produced an engaging and theoretically rich text that spans disciplines and draws important conclusions about our understandings of knowledge, nature, and the modern state.

Alexander J. Myers

Rural Sociology