Geopolitics of Water and Spatial Injustice in Subantarctic Territories: The Case of Puerto Natales and Its Hinterland

Abstract

Introduction: in Chile’s subantarctic territories, water has become a strategically contested resource, where tourism, conservation, state, and community interests converge. Puerto Natales and its hinterland reflect the effects of a fragmented and exclusionary water governance model, which strains local modes of inhabiting in a context of growing climatic and institutional uncertainty. Objective: this article seeks to understand how the water conflict in Puerto Natales and its hinterland area is configured, drawing on critical geopolitics and spatial (in)justice. It explores the logics of exclusion, disputes over access and meaning of water, and the forms of resistance emerging from the territory. Methodology: the research follows a qualitative approach, based on fieldwork (2021–2024), territorial observation and in-depth interviews. A grounded theory content analysis was applied using open, axial, and selective coding, identifying three key dimensions: external pressures, institutional exclusion, and community resistance. Conclusions: the study reveals a water access structure shaped by external interests and epistemic exclusion. Nevertheless, local responses emerge that reshape the water-territory relationship and propose alternative governance imaginaries rooted in lived experience.