In its basic definition, the term territory denotes a physical space with a particular topography and natural resources that are used in a specific way by its inhabitants and/or by distinct social actors that interact within it. As such, a territory is a space that is determined by its physical conditions and the natural resources located within it, as well as by its history, by the social and economic dynamics that exist and develop there, and by the relations of power that promote, drive, tolerate, or repress those dynamics.
These political and social dynamics are associated with historically constructed structures and systems of production, but also with the ethnic and cultural identities of the population that resides there and the image that the residents hold and construct of their territory. Social relations, in a broad sense, are therefore an integral and constituent part of the territory; they are the engine and the heart of the changes that occur within it. Over time, social relations configure and modify the territory. Read More
