Mapping indigenous civil resistance processes to extractivist projects in the southern Andes (1990-2020)

This article aims to study those indigenous resistance processes emerged during socio-environmental conflicts to extractivist projects. It focuses on processes developed in the Andean and pre-Andean areas of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, from 1990 to 2020. It identifies, especially, those struggles...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Vargas, María Francesca Rodríguez, Hidalgo, Diego Checa
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2022
Country:Brasil
Institution:Centro Universitário de Anápolis (UniEVANGÉLICA)
Repository:Historia Ambiental Latinoamericana y Caribeña
Language:Spanish
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs2.www.halacsolcha.org:article/561
Online Access:https://www.halacsolcha.org/index.php/halac/article/view/561
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Nonviolence
Indigenous communities
Extractivism
Socio-environmental conflicts
Environmental justice
noviolencia
comunidades indígenas
conflictos socioambientales
extractivismo
justicia ambiental
Description
Summary:This article aims to study those indigenous resistance processes emerged during socio-environmental conflicts to extractivist projects. It focuses on processes developed in the Andean and pre-Andean areas of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, from 1990 to 2020. It identifies, especially, those struggles of communities that have resorted mainly to the use of nonviolent action methodologies to achieve their goals. Based on documentary analysis, this investigation has found 129 cases with half of them located in Chilean territory. Mapuche communities are the major indigenous actors in these socio-environmental conflicts and mining is the most relevant extractive activity involved in them. Two demands are key in these conflicts: Improvement of the waste management system in order to repair the damage caused by extractivist projects and respect for the right to consultation and participation in decision-making. Finally, our investigation shows how most of the civil resistance methods implemented in these indigenous struggles belong to the category of protest and persuasion. However, there is a significant use of nonviolent intervention tactics through the development of direct actions too.