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L’article discute la notion de « subjectivités environnementales » d’Arun Agrawal. Elle permet d’analyser la construction d’identités environnementales dans l’évolution des relations entre l’État et ses marges. Nous proposons d’appliquer la notion à l’appropriation conflictuelle de la conservation par les pêcheurs de la réserve de biosphère Seaflower (Colombie). L’article propose d’illustrer la pluralité des « subjectivités environnementales » qui naissent de dispositifs de conservation peu participatifs, au cœur des contradictions de la conservation bioculturelle. Il remet en question la subjectivation environnementale comme adoption d’un environnementalisme consensuel. Il décrira plutôt un processus social contraint et conflictuel – finalement, politique – de redéfinition des bons usages de la nature.

The paper discusses the notion of ‘environmental subjectivities’ developed by Arun Agrawal. Questioning how environmentally conscious subjects appear in regimes of conservation, the author advocates analyzing environmental policies from the perspective of the changing relations between marginalized localities and their institutions. This article confronts his approach with biocultural conservation which acknowledges environmental practices in these marginalized communities, without however delegating management to them. The case of the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve in Colombia, where artisanal fishermen have developed strong environmental identities while resisting conservation in everyday life, highlights the need to analyze plural and competing ‘environmental subjectivities’. Built on the observation of the daily practices of fishermen, this article advocates for a re-politicized analysis of how ‘environmental subjectivities’ vary. Instead of describing the adoption of a common concern about the environment, it describes ‘environmental subjectivities’ as plural, contradictory, embedded in mechanisms of social distinction and negotiations between administrators and citizens at the margins who seek to participate in the government of the environment.