Extraction and Good Living. Contested territories in Latin America’s plurinational states.

Abstract:

After a decade of social and political change in Latin America, currently new resistance movements arise, again headed by the indigenous population, which claims control of their territories and the natural resources. Though significant changes have been made in the highly participatory constitutional processes, with new Constitutions enacted, by recognizing the plurinational states which aim at the equal coexistence of the different social – especially indigenous – groups, and in secondary redistribution policies; budgetary priorities, being referred to as primary distribution, show, that the redistribution in favor of the indigenous and peasant population remains rather limited, whereas primarily an extractivist export model is being backed, centering on the export of primary goods – of natural resources –, on unprofitable terms in the global economic system. This extractivist orientation however conflicts with the interests of the indigenous population – rather oriented towards the Good Living – which becomes especially evident during disputes over control of their territories. The research focuses on how different, especially indigenous, groups and their economic organizational forms, are affected by the intensified – globally embedded –state economies’ extractivist orientations, and how current nationalization processes interfere.

See for more information:

Roy Huijsmans