Assembling for water: The prefigurative politics of land futures in Argentina

As in other areas of Argentina, residents from the Norte Neuquino in the northwestern reaches of Patagonia are concerned about the recent advancements of extractivism onto their territories. Their analysis is clear: the environmental crisis is directly linked to a democratic one, and they engage in a wide range of actions to envision and enact alternative futures. This combines contentious and prefigurative politics. This article analyses the labour of the socio-environmental assembly of Huinganco through its attention to the everyday, the making of awareness, and the production of new political subjects. It discusses its political form, the expansion of its limits, and the proposals for alternative world-making projects that are enacted to counter the advancement of extractivism onto these territories.Como en otras partes de Argentina, los recientes avances del extractivismo han generado preocupaci & oacute;n en los residentes del Norte neuquino, al extremo noroeste de la Patagonia. Su an & aacute;lisis es claro: la crisis ambiental est & aacute; directamente relacionada con la crisis democr & aacute;tica. Esto los impulsa a trazar una amplia gama de acciones que les permitan imaginar y promover futuros alternativos. Este accionar combina la pol & iacute;tica contenciosa y prefigurativa. En este art & iacute;culo, analizamos el trabajo de la Asamblea Socioambiental Huinganco a trav & eacute;s de su labor en lo cotidiano, la concientizaci & oacute;n y la producci & oacute;n de nuevos esquemas pol & iacute;ticos. Se analiza sus formas pol & iacute;ticas, la ampliaci & oacute;n de sus l & iacute;mites y las propuestas de proyectos alternativos para la creaci & oacute;n de mundos que logren dar embate al avance extractivista.