Narrating memories: discourses of development and the environment in a Puerto Rican coastal region

This essay analyzes the construction of discourses on development and the environment in three communities in south Puerto Rico. It is based on research among rural workers whose lives and working trajectories were altered by industrial development along the coasts. Three outcomes of industrialization are 1) the diversification of productive activities; 2) an increase in commercial activities and internal migration; and 3) the transformation of the coastal landscapes. I argue that the discourses on development and the environment are similar and the few differences depend on the extent that local residents have benefited from industrialization in proximity to their communities.