RESUMEN En la República Dominicana, el turismo es la base fundamental del desarrollo económico, transformando no sólo el paisaje social y cultural, sino también los reflejos individuales del yo, de la comunidad y de la nación. En la región noreste de Samaná, donde el turismo ha crecido y se ha establecido como una fuente importante de empleo y de especulación, los esfuerzos para controlar esta industria se han politizado. Este estudio investiga los esfuerzos de una empresa extranjera para controlar los recursos del turismo local, y la consecuente resistencia por parte de grupos locales. Este conflicto, aunque cimentado en los recursos materiales, a menudo se articuló mediante el complejo discurso de la identidad. La cultura política se convirtió en el vehículo principal por el cual se luchó para controlar bienes materiales y simbólicos. Estas disputas descubren un campo cultural en continua transformación, exponiendo la inestabilidad de unas categorías consideradas tiempo atrás como indudables. In the Dominican Republic, tourism is the dominant development strategy transforming not only the social and cultural landscape, but also individual reflections of self, community and nation. In the northeast region of Samaná, as tourism has grown and become an important source of employment and profit, the struggles to control the industry are politicized. This case study examines the attempts of a foreign company to control local tourist assets, and the ensuing struggle on the local level to resist. The conflict, although grounded in material assets, was often articulated through the complex discourse of identity. Cultural politics became a primary vehicle through which the control of material and symbolic assets was fought. These struggles bring to light a changing cultural field, exposing the instability of categories long taken for granted.

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The Dominican Republic (DR) experienced an economic boom related to tourism development over the last 30 years. Subsequently, consumption has increased, accompanied by an exponential growth in inorganic waste. Without adequate solid waste management, an environmental crisis has developed. Plastic waste litters roadsides, streets, streams, and beaches, threatening the very industry that enabled it. Informal waste collectors are on the front line of addressing, if not alleviating, the crisis but are regarded as marginal and inconsequential. A new waste regime is inevitable and imminent. Waste collectors are justifiably concerned that new systems may threaten their livelihoods. As such, they leverage their work, vis-à-vis a gift economy, to place themselves as essential to addressing the environmental crisis.

We conducted a formative research study on the peninsula of Samaná, in the northeast corner of the Dominican Republic, focused on how people viewed, categorized, and handled solid waste. With the passage of a new law, a motivated government administration is now addressing the solid waste crisis on the peninsula. Here, we examine some of the pre-existing attitudes about the solid waste of Samaná residents. Results from the study reveal that, contrary to many assumptions, local Dominicans are aware of the waste crisis and, in fact, are often depressed and anxious over it, even as they feel angry and helpless about how to resolve it. On closer examination and drawing on Appadurai’s theoretical framework of “-scapes,” we can understand that the waste crisis is not a local problem, and, as such, sustainable solutions need to include a broader effort to control plastic entering the environment.