This study seeks to contribute to an understanding of the patterns of environmental governance in Chile which is both an international model for natural resource-led economic development and an emblematic case of "free market" policy-making. It asks how the typical challenges of environmental governance--the coordination of multiple uses of land/seascapes and resources, the resolution of conflicts, and the reconciliation of competing claims--are addressed given the constraints on state regulatory capacity and authority associated with decades of neoliberal restructuring. My general research proposition is that in this context, property rights have become the key sites where the political and institutional logics of environmental and resource governance are expressed and contested. The dissertation consists of four appended articles that analyze different aspects and implications of this "property-centric" approach to governance. These cover the emergence of environmental legislation, the growth of private land conservation and the political and legal barriers it faces, the policy and political dynamics associated with the allocation of public coastal waters, and the role of property rights in shaping the development and regulation of aquaculture. The analysis draws on and integrates political ecology-oriented literature on environmental governance, legal property theory, and a focus on institutions for common resource management. From this theoretical foundation it develops a legal geographic approach that moves between a focus on formal policy-making and a ground-level view of law as it is interpreted and enacted in specific contexts. Research relied on a combination of primarily qualitative methods and materials including the review of archival and documentary sources, semi-structured interviews with key informants, participant observation, and the mapping of resource rights. Common or overlapping findings in the four studies provide support for several general conclusions regarding the relationships between environmental governance, neoliberalism, property rights, and the management of common resources. a) In the first place, and contrary to expectations, market-based environmental regulation (in a strict sense) has been limited in Chile. b) The legal frameworks which, following neoliberal prescriptions, are designed so as to avoid public deliberation and governmental interference in the economy have facilitated rapid growth in many areas but only by deferring key governance tasks. c) These same arrangements tend to displace and channel politics through property rights, and in the process produce a variety of unintended consequences. d) The privileged position of property rights has resulted in self-reinforcing and path dependent tendencies associated with the collective action of resource users in the pursuit of various political and economic ends. e) At the same time, this project documents the institutionally diverse nature of private property rights, including a multivalent orientation toward markets. f) Finally, the research documents how common property arrangements and ideas have emerged through efforts by various actors to address governance challenges in contexts as diverse as private land conservation and the management of salmon aquaculture production.

Dissertação(mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Programa de Pós–Graduação em Gerenciamento Costeiro, Instituto de Oceanografia, 2012. / Submitted by Cristiane Gomides (cristiane_gomides@hotmail.com) on 2013-09-16T18:58:42Z No. of bitstreams: 1 andreia.pdf: 4518562 bytes, checksum: 24b429e580d3eb08acab170e7ee92f7e (MD5) / Rejected by cristiane soares(krikasoares@live.com), reason: citação errada on 2013-09-23T01:09:34Z (GMT) / Submitted by Cristiane Gomides (cristiane_gomides@hotmail.com) on 2013-10-09T01:51:00Z No. of bitstreams: 1 andreia.pdf: 4518562 bytes, checksum: 24b429e580d3eb08acab170e7ee92f7e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Sabrina Andrade (sabrinabeatriz@ibest.com.br) on 2013-10-17T02:59:10Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 andreia.pdf: 4518562 bytes, checksum: 24b429e580d3eb08acab170e7ee92f7e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-10-17T02:59:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 andreia.pdf: 4518562 bytes, checksum: 24b429e580d3eb08acab170e7ee92f7e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Atualmente as questões ambientais ainda não foram adequadamente incorporadas às atividades do setor portuário, uma vez que as iniciativas de gestão ambiental existentes nos portos brasileiros são ainda muito fragmentadas. O setor portuário está diretamente ligado a grandes acidentes ambientais, principalmente de episódios de derramamento de óleo e outras substâncias potencialmente perigosas. Além disso, também é importante considerar os impactos inerentes às operações cotidianas, tais como aqueles relacionados à sua infraestrutura e operações diárias, que muitas vezes não são contabilizadas enquanto impacto ambiental. Somado a estas fragilidades faltam também estudos com relação a este tema e a maioria dos portos brasileiros não está licenciada. Considerando essa problemática, e usando como estudo de caso o Porto do Rio Grande (RS), objetiva-se analisar a situação de gestão ambiental neste sítio portuário, tendo como pano de fundo o contexto local e as políticas públicas ambientais nacionais. O objetivo maior, respaldado por esta análise político-institucional, foi o de gerar diretrizes norteadoras que deem embasamento a um sistema de gestão ambiental portuária, através da proposição da síntese de um Plano de Gestão Ambiental Portuária. As diretrizes para o Plano foram elaboradas com respaldo nas etapas de estabelecimento e consolidação de um Programa de Gerenciamento Costeiro Integrado, com base no contexto local do Porto de Rio Grande (RS), mas com possível replicabilidade. Em última instância, estas sugestões de procedimentos que permitirão tornar os processos de gestão ambiental mais eficientes, o que permitirá a aplicação em outros portos brasileiros, bem como motivar melhorias nos processos da gestão costeira municipal. / Currently environmental issues have not been adequately incorporated into the activities in the port sector and the existing environmental management initiatives in some Brazilian ports are very fragmented. Within these weaknesses also lacks studies regarding this issue and most Brazilian ports is not licensed. The port sector is directly linked to major environmental accidents, but in addition, there are also impacts related to its infrastructure and port operations daily that often are not counted as environmental impact. Considering this problem, this paper seeks to understand a situation management linked to environmental licensing, permeated by the environmental public policies, as well as the weaknesses and strengths of these processes. Using as a case study of the Port of Rio Grande (RS), aims to analyze the situation of environmental management port on this site, with the backdrop of national environmental public policy and local context. The ultimate goal, this analysis supported by political and institutional, is to generate guidelines that provide a base for an environmental management system efficient port that will allow the application to other Brazilian ports, by proposing a synthesis of Port Environmental Management Plan . Guidelines for the Plan will be developed to support the stages of establishment and consolidation of an Integrated Coastal Management Program, based in the local context of the port of Rio Grande (RS), but with possible replication to other ports. Ultimately, these suggested procedures will encourage improvements in the processes of municipal coastal management.