scholarly journals Pandemic State Failure, Hydrocarbon Control, and Indigenous Territorial Counteraction in the Peruvian Amazon

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Watson ◽  
Conny Davidsen
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
State Failure ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
National State ◽  
Main River ◽  
Indigenous Groups ◽  
Indigenous Territories ◽  
Territorial Control ◽  
Administrative Jurisdiction ◽  
Liquid Natural Gas

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Peruvian government failed to protect its sparsely populated Amazon region. While infections were still rising, resource extraction was quickly approved to continue operations as a declared essential service that permitted an influx of workers into vulnerable indigenous territories despite weak or almost absent local healthcare. This article analyzes territorial counteraction as an indigenous response to pandemic national state failure, highlighted in a case of particularly conflictive stakes of resource control: Peru’s largest liquid natural gas extraction site Camisea in the Upper Amazon, home to several indigenous groups in the Lower Urubamba who engaged in collective action to create their own district. Frustration with the state’s handling of the crisis prompted indigenous counteraction to take COVID-19 measures and territorial control into their own hands. By blocking boat traffic on their main river, they effectively cut off their remote and roadless Amazon district off from the outside world. Local indigenous control had already been on the rise after the region had successfully fought for its own formal subnational administrative jurisdiction in 2016, named Megantoni district. The pandemic then created a moment of full indigenous territorial control that openly declared itself as a response and replacement of a failed national state. Drawing on political ecology, we analyze this as an interesting catalyst moment that elevated long-standing critiques of inequalities, and state neglect into new negotiations of territory and power between the state and indigenous self-determination, with potentially far-reaching implications on state-indigenous power dynamics and territorial control, beyond the pandemic.

Devbans, Caste, Gender and the State:Political Ecology of a Sacred Grove of Himachal Pradesh

2021 ◽  
pp. 239448112110203
Author(s):  
Supriya Rani ◽  
Neera Agnimitra
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Himachal Pradesh ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Sacred Grove ◽  
Probability Of Survival ◽  
The Social

Devbans are the parts of forest territory that have been traditionally conserved in reverence to the local deities in various parts of Himachal Pradesh. Today, they stand at the intersection of tradition and modernity. This paper endeavours to study the political ecology of a Devban in the contemporary times by looking at the power dynamics between various stakeholders with respect to their relative decision making power in the realm of managing the Devban of Parashar Rishi Devta. It further looks at howcertain political and administrative factors can contribute towards the growth or even decline of any Devban. The study argues that in the contemporary times when the capitalist doctrines have infiltrated every sphere of the social institutions including the religion, Devbans have a greater probability of survival when both the state and the community have shared conservatory idealsand powers to preserve them.

scholarly journals Indigenous people’s self-determination in the context of COVID-19 in northern Mexico

2021 ◽  
pp. 117718012110585
Author(s):  
Juan Jaime Loera Gonzaléz
Keyword(s):  
Self Determination ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Community Responses ◽  
Northern Mexico ◽  
Current Health ◽  
Indigenous Groups ◽  
Political Relations ◽  
Indigenous Territories ◽  
Care Guidelines

This article presents various transformations registered in the political sphere and community participation due to the COVID-19 pandemic on Indigenous territories in northern Mexico. It explores the challenges of the Rarámuri and Ódami Indigenous people’s experience in guaranteeing their political rights and self-determination in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically when organising festivities and ceremonies that were unable to celebrate to comply with official health care guidelines. The article gives firsthand accounts of the political relations between Indigenous groups’ community responses and the Mexican government’s actions to mitigate the effects of the new coronavirus. The article draws on the argument that the current health emergency context is inserted into a complex network of pre-existing and structured power relations that largely define the scope of the actions taken because of the pandemic. Critically, the community responses emanating from Indigenous groups show crucial cultural differences in ways to deal with the disease.

scholarly journals Ecological research should consider Indigenous peoples and stewardship

FACETS ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 534-537
Author(s):  
Kyle A. Schang ◽  
Andrew J. Trant ◽  
Sara A. Bohnert ◽  
Alana M. Closs ◽  
Megan Humchitt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Ecological Research ◽  
Indigenous Groups ◽  
Indigenous Group ◽  
Indigenous Territories ◽  
America South ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between Indigenous peoples and the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems has received increased attention in recent years. As a result, it is becoming more critical for researchers focusing on terrestrial ecosystems to work with Indigenous groups to gain a better understanding of how past and current stewardship of these lands may influence results. As a case study to explore these ideas, we systematically reviewed articles from 2008 to 2018 where research was conducted in North America, South America, and Oceania. Of the 159 articles included, 11 included acknowledgement of Indigenous stewardship, acknowledged the Indigenous Territories or lands, or named the Indigenous group on whose Territory the research was conducted. Within the scope of this case study, our results demonstrate an overall lack of Indigenous acknowledgement or consideration within the scope of our review. Given the recent advancements in our understanding of how Indigenous groups have shaped their lands, we implore researchers to consider collaboration among local Indigenous groups as to better cultivate relationships and foster a greater understanding of their ecosystems.

Frontier Politics French, Portuguese and Amerindian Alliances between the Amazon and Cayenne, 1680–1697

2018 ◽  
pp. 69-90
Author(s):  
Silvia Espelt-Bombin
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Interdisciplinary Studies ◽  
Indigenous Groups ◽  
Territorial Control ◽  
Colonial Frontier ◽  
Over Time

While the territory we know today as Guyane was in the end claimed by France, initial attempts to establish a colony there were unsuccessful for several reasons. Highly significant amongst these reasons were the attacks made by indigenous people on settlements which were already precarious. In interdisciplinary studies of the Guianese plateau, Neil Whitehead, Stéphen Rostain, Pierre Grenand and Françoise Grenand—amongst others—have discussed processes of tribalisation and the degree of influence that indigenous warfare had on the establishment and development of European enclaves in the region. Following and building on this existing research as well as drawing upon archival sources, this chapter addresses a small number of specific ‘frontier’ contacts, wars and alliances between different indigenous groups, the French and the Portuguese. By exploring these cases, the chapter sheds light on the negotiations of power that took place in the area over time. It addresses the question of how alliances changed over time depending on interests and circumstances. Rather than using these cases to define the ‘colonial frontier’ between Portugal and France in northeast South America, its aim is to focus on the degree and power of negotiation that the different indigenous groups had on territorial control.

scholarly journals Governing Food and Agriculture in a Warming World

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Newell ◽  
Olivia Taylor ◽  
Charles Touni
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Multiple Scales ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Global Institutions ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Smart Agriculture ◽  
Warming World

Understanding how, why, and whether the trade-offs and tensions around simultaneous implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals are resolved both sustainably and equitably requires an appreciation of power relations across multiple scales of governance. We explore the politics and political economy of how the nexus around food, energy, and water is being governed through initiatives to promote climate-smart agriculture (CSA) as it moves from the global to the local. We combine an analysis of how these interrelationships are being governed (and ungoverned) by key global institutions with reflection on the consequences of this for developing countries that are being targeted by CSA initiatives. In particular, we look at Kenya as a country heavily dependent on agriculture, but also subject to some of the worst effects of climate change and which has been a focus for a range of bilateral and multilateral donors with their preferred visions of CSA. We draw on strands of literature in global environmental politics, political ecology, and the political economy of development to make sense of the power dynamics that characterize the multiscalar politics of how CSA is translated, domesticated, and operationalized in practice.

scholarly journals Contesting energy transitions: wind power and conflicts in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia Avila-Calero
Keyword(s):  
Wind Energy ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Wind Power ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Environmental Conflicts ◽  
Indigenous Groups ◽  
Energy Projects ◽  
Isthmus Of Tehuantepec

Abstract This article studies the expansion of large-scale wind energy projects on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (Mexico) and local socio-environmental conflicts that have emerged in response. It explores how the neoliberal agenda in Mexico is shaping a specific way of implementing wind energy projects, and how this is leading to local resistance and the production of alternatives. The article is based on a historical analysis reconstructing the main features of wind power development, and pathways of struggle. By following a political ecology perspective, wind energy is seen as embedded in a wider frame of power relations and the uneven patterns of the Mexican economy. The struggles of indigenous groups are thus analyzed as the expression of peripheral communities against the enclosure of communal lands, the private appropriation of benefits, and the lack of democratic procedures involved in these projects. The discussion emphasizes the role of communal identities and institutions in building successful networks, while introducing new concepts (energy sovereignty) and alternative schemes in wind power production (cooperatives). The overall approach of the article is that any move towards a different energy system should be politically encouraged by social and cultural means, rather than be largely economically motivated. Keywords: wind energy, neoliberalism, socio-environmental conflicts, energy sovereignty, cooperatives, Tehuantepec

scholarly journals Political ecology of movement: trekking and territoriality among the Kayapó

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 108
Author(s):  
Laura Zanotti
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Environmental Governance ◽  
General Pattern ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Brazilian Amazon ◽  
Space And Place ◽  
Spatial Practices ◽  
The Past ◽  
Territorial Control

One key strand of political ecology inquiry draws attention to different scalar aspects of territorial control and environmental governance, especially as they relate to inequity, power, and marginality in the rural South. Simultaneously, in the past several decades scholars have argued for a more meaningful engagement with space and place, as global forces of capitalism and geographies of difference make and unmake places in surprising and often violent ways. In this article, I interweave political ecology and anthropology of space and place approaches to territorial practices in the Brazilian Amazon to demonstrate how multiscalar politics of territorial retention and use are layered alongside local, spatial practices. In the Brazilian Amazon, indigenous rights are closely linked to the territorial demarcation and protection of federally defined Indigenous Lands. To that end, a general pattern has been observed across Amazonia that colonization and state-making agendas regarding territorial control have coincided to an increased sedentism of indigenous peoples. This narrative elides the present and ongoing importance local ideas about territories and place have for indigenous communities. Ethnographic data from research with the Kayapó, an indigenous group in Brazil, is presented to draw attention to the complexities of the local responses to the past several decades of change that have resulted in a federally defined territorial homeland and shifting spatial practices within those lands. The Kayapó response is a particularly well-suited case study for this type of analysis, as the tribe is known ethnographically for their fissioning and trekking patterns. I show that movement, mobility, and travel still figure into everyday practices in meaningful ways. While far from homogenous, movement through the landscape is part of responding to current demands to their ways of life. I also argue that travel also affirms the Kayapó notions of knowing (kukradjà), beauty (mê), and strength (tycht).Keywords: political ecology, Amazonia, travel, territoriality, space and place

scholarly journals Payment for Ecosystem Services and the Water-Energy-Food Nexus: Securing Resource Flows for the Affluent?

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Carlo Rodríguez-de-Francisco ◽  
Bibiana Duarte-Abadía ◽  
Rutgerd Boelens
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Payment For Ecosystem Services ◽  
Hydropower Project ◽  
Security Discourse ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Scalar Politics

Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) is not only a prominent, globally promoted policy to foster nature conservation, but also increasingly propagated as an innovative and self-sustaining governance instrument to support poverty alleviation and to guarantee water, food, and energy securities. In this paper, we evaluate a PES scheme from a multi-scalar and political-ecology perspective in order to reveal different power dynamics across the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus perspective. For this purpose, we analyze the PES scheme implemented in the Hidrosogamoso hydropower project in Colombia. The paper shows that actors’ strongly divergent economic and political power is determinant in defining how and for whom the Nexus-related water, food, and energy securities are materialized. In this case, the PES scheme and its scalar politics, as fostered by the private/public hydropower alliance, are instrumental to guaranteeing water security for the hydropower scheme, which is a crucial building-block of Colombia’s energy security discourse. For this, the water and food securities of the adjacent, less powerful communities are sacrificed. Examining the on-the-ground politics of WEF Nexus is key to understanding their impact on equitable and sustainable governance of water, energy, and food in the everyday lives of millions of resource users. We conclude that politicizing the Nexus can help to trace both the flows of resources and the flows of power.

scholarly journals Gendered Dimensions of Unpaid Activities: An Empirical Insight into Rural Bangladesh Households

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6670
Author(s):  
Faisal Bin Islam ◽  
Madhuri Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Gender Equity ◽  
Cultural Beliefs ◽  
Multiple Linear Regression Model ◽  
Household Survey ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Feminist Political Ecology ◽  
Household Survey Data ◽  
Gendered Roles ◽  
Environmental Shocks

Women in Bangladesh are generally perceived as caregivers, often confined within the households to perform various activities, whereas men are perceived as the providers. These complex gendered roles intersect with multiple factors such as household structure, marital status, religion, cultural beliefs, economic shocks, and livelihood opportunities. This study used the feminist political ecology framework to contextualize and analyze time allocated toward unpaid works, culturally accepted as female/gendered activities, and the nuanced power dynamics between men and women within the rural households of Bangladesh. We used the household survey data collected from the Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey of 2015 to create a multiple linear regression model that helps understand the impacts of economic, cultural, and environmental shocks on the total time allocated toward unpaid activities by women within the household. Results suggest women who experienced climate-change shocks such as crop losses due to disasters and non-climatic shocks such as dowry tend to allocate more time toward unpaid tasks. In contrast, women who own their businesses tend to give less time toward unpaid tasks. This study provides guidelines for necessary gender-sensitive national policies to address the United Nation’s goal of gender equity and sustainable development.

scholarly journals Representing environment and development – tracing links between drivers, representations and power dynamics in cocoa sustainability and beyond

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 426
Author(s):  
Judith Krauss
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Documentary Analysis ◽  
Power Asymmetries ◽  
Cocoa Production ◽  
Global North ◽  
Sustainability Initiatives

How much do misleading representations matter? This article examines carefully constructed narratives of engagement in 'sustainable' cocoa production initiatives, which fail to mention one of the actual key drivers: the need to shore up production in the long term in an embattled sector. Consequently, representations also downplay the need for systemic change, reproducing the power asymmetries they claim to change. The research seeks to establish to what degree public-facing communication differs from underlying priorities in terms of forefronting altruism over necessity, and whether this is problematic for the initiatives' overall outcome. Through semi-structured interviews, focus-group discussions, documentary analysis and participant observation in Latin America and Europe, it reviews relations in two cocoa sustainability initiatives with environmental foci. Crucially, the research establishes a link between representations, underlying priorities and the degree to which they (re)produce pre-existing power asymmetries between global North and global South, private sector and other stakeholders in the industry, speaking to a variety of political ecology questions. It argues that public-facing, altruism-focused communication distracts from the sector's underlying systemic issues: the emphasis on altruism works to reduce pressure to transform power asymmetries and omnipresent inequalities.

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