Confronting extractivism – the role of local struggles in the (un)making of place

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the politics involved in local struggles against forestry extractivism. The forestry sector is dependent on vast areas of land for tree plantations. This creates deep-rooted conflicts between global corporations that seek access to natural resources and locals whose way of life requires the use of the same land. Design/methodology/approach This study draws on a political ontology frame of reference and storytelling methodology to build on testimonies of three small-scale farmers who actively seek to resist forestry plantations next to their land in rural Uruguay. The stories reveal the impossibilities they face when raising claims in the public political sphere and how they lack the means to organise strong collective resistance. Findings One of the testimonies reveals how the farmers engage in a form of “politics of place” (Escobar, 2001, 2008) to counter the power of the proponents of forestry and the further expansion of plantations. This form of politics strengthens and politicises the ontological difference between extractive and non-extractive worlds. The farmers seek to build new imaginations of rural living and sustainable futures without the presence of extractive corporations. They fulfil this aim by designing community projects that aim to revitalise ancient indigenous legends, set up agro-ecological farms, and teach schoolchildren about the environment. Originality/value The struggles of the farmers indicate the territorial transformations involved in (un)making (non)extractive places and the need to expand the analysis of the politics involved in struggles against extractivism beyond social struggles.

Decolonizing Deliberative Democracy: Perspectives from Below

“…Acknowledging epistemic diversity has to be accompanied by an ontological diversity because Indigenous worldviews are based on a relational ontology where humans and nonhumans co-constitute the world, which is profoundly different from Western realist ontologies based on a human-nature dichotomy (Banerjee & Arjaliès, 2021). Relational ontologies that underlie Indigenous philosophies of human-nature relationships are also sources of resistance against extractive projects that reflect a 'politics of place' and place related identities of Indigenous communities (Ehrnström-Fuentes, 2019). Here place becomes more than land and territory which are redefined based on the histories of reciprocal relationships between humans, animals, forests, and waters (Ehrnström-Fuentes, 2020).…”

Contesting extractivism: international business and people’s struggles against extractive industries

“…In “Confronting extractivism – the role of local struggles in the (un)making of place”, Ehrnström-Fuentes (2020) seeks to “expand ways of thought about the politics of local struggles against extractivism”, which, according to her, is not only about visible mobilizations but struggles embodied by the ontological politics in place. The paper relies on documented and narrated experiences of the arrival of forestry operations in Uruguay.…”

“…The paper relies on documented and narrated experiences of the arrival of forestry operations in Uruguay. More specifically, it tells the story of three affected farmers through their testimonies, aiming to “give voice to an absent perspective” (because they were excluded from the public debate) and “weave a different configuration of reality” (Ehrnström-Fuentes, 2020, p. 4).…”

“…Ehrnström-Fuentes’ close and detailed storytelling reveals different trajectories in the context of forestry in Uruguay, one in the small village of Cerro Alegre, other in the city of Mercedes and the third near the city of Colonia del Sacramento. The argument is that “this kind of ontological politics contributes to the making of non-extractive places when actors consciously construct new alternatives and imaginations of rural life through their practices and embodied stories” (Ehrnström-Fuentes, 2020, p. 8). According to the author, opening up for the pluriverse and strengthening the politics beyond the public sphere is a way to move beyond “the limited focus of current theorising on social movements” (Ehrnström-Fuentes, 2020, p. 20).…”

“…The argument is that “this kind of ontological politics contributes to the making of non-extractive places when actors consciously construct new alternatives and imaginations of rural life through their practices and embodied stories” (Ehrnström-Fuentes, 2020, p. 8). According to the author, opening up for the pluriverse and strengthening the politics beyond the public sphere is a way to move beyond “the limited focus of current theorising on social movements” (Ehrnström-Fuentes, 2020, p. 20).…”