Oil and Conflict in the Ecuadorian Amazon: An Exploration of Motives and Objectives

Abstract

This exploration piece challenges the dominant reading of oil-related social conflicts through an environmental prism. Through a methodological intervention that classifies conflicts as 'brown' (concerning primarily the distribution and investment of economic rents) or 'green' (demanding ecological remediation, improved extraction practices, or cessation of oil extraction altogether), it analyses a database of oil related conflicts in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon. The region is particularly suitable for such a study not only because oil extraction has a long history there but also because the resulting conflagration has been well-documented. Building on the finding that twenty-two of the thirty-six cases that could be classified along this dichotomous divide are "brown", the article problematizes the extant scholarly literatures' conceptualization and discusses the potential analytical benefits of recognizing that some movements might be motivated primarily by concerns that are not necessarily environmental. A more thorough recognition of the motives underpinning contentious action concerning extractive industries is also a prerequisite for understanding the policy influence of social mobilization. Keywords: conflict, hydrocarbons, extractivism, indigenous people, environmental justice.Resumen: Petróleo y conflicto en el Amazonas ecuatoriano: Una exploración de motivos y objetivos La presente exploración desafía la lectura dominante de los conflictos sociales relacionados con el petróleo a través de un prisma ambiental. Mediante una intervención metodológica que clasifica los conflictos como "marrón" (principalmente en relación con la distribución y la inversión de las rentas económicas) o "verde" (que exigen reparación ecológica, prácticas de extracción mejoradas o el cese de la extracción de petróleo en su totalidad), se analiza una base de datos de petróleo relacionada con los conflictos en el norte de la amazonia ecuatoriana. La región es particularmente adecuada para un estudio de este tipo, no solo porque la 210 | ERLACS No. 106 (2018): July-December extracción de petróleo tiene una larga historia, sino también porque la conflagración resultante está bien documentada. Sobre la base del hallazgo de que veintidós de los treinta y seis casos, que podrían clasificarse a lo largo de esta división dicotómica, son "marrones", el artículo problematiza la conceptualización de la literatura académica existentes y discute los posibles beneficios analíticos de reconocer que algunos movimientos pueden estar motivados principalmente por preocupaciones que no son necesariamente ambientales. Un reconocimiento más profundo de los motivos que sustentan la acción contenciosa sobre las industrias extractivas también es un requisito previo para comprender la influencia política de la movilización social. Palabras clave: conflicto, hidrocarbonos, extractivismo, indígenas, justicia medioambiental.

Community-Based Monitoring of Oil Extraction: Lessons Learned in the Ecuadorian Amazon

“…As extraction processes intensify, Amazonian indigenous and other social groups have responded with political organization and activism, which has led to in a small increase in visibility and limited legal recognition of their territories (Becker 2017), but only of a limited portion of the total areas, and with no subsurface rights (Bozigar, Gray, and Bilsborrow 2016). Implementation of protection measures in the field have been slower to materialize, as government and industry have resisted or exploited legal loopholes to avoid increased regulation and monitoring (Pellegrini and Arsel 2018;Latorre, Farrell, and Mart ınez-Alier 2015). Furthermore, constitutional provisions that put the burden of proof on environmental impacts on extractive industries and embrace the precautionary principle are ineffective and local communities remain at an immense disadvantage when it comes to confronting and negotiating with oil companies (Arsel, Pellegrini, and Mena 2019).…”

Global extractive imperative: from local resistance to unburnable fuels

“…Former president Rafael Correa's exhortation that Ecuadorians should not be like 'beggars sitting on a sack of gold' and should exploit their natural resources to fuel the development process illustrates this sentiment (Dosh and Kligerman, 2009;Morley, 2017). Opposition movements, questioning extraction itself, or the way it takes place or the way rents are redistributed (Pellegrini and Arsel, 2018) have been met with ridicule and criminalisation with resistance to extractive projects often getting treated as a terrorist activity (Calapaqui, 2012;Dosh and Kligerman, 2009;Zibechi, 2011).…”