Maria Akchurin | Loyola University Chicago (original) (raw)

Articles by Maria Akchurin

Extractive Industries and Society, 2023

With the judicialization of politics and the creation of new environmental institutions, environm... more With the judicialization of politics and the creation of new environmental institutions, environmental litigation is now an increasingly common dimension of socioenvironmental conflicts. This study examines this pattern in the context of recently created environmental courts in Chile, focusing on lithium and copper mining litigation in the Atacama salt flats of the Antofagasta Region. I argue that while the courts are formally open to a wide variety of legal complaints, community groups face an uphill battle when using legal mobilization strategies due to the underlying political and economic power of the mining industry in northern Chile. Nevertheless, environmental litigation matters for environmental policy implementation because it reveals conflicts over environmental compliance, highlighting gaps between environmental laws on the books and actual practices. In this sense, environmental litigation activates environmental regulations and can provide communities with greater leverage to demand stronger enforcement, even as the long-term implications of judicial rulings for addressing current and past harms remain to be seen. The paper is based on documents from the Chilean environmental courts database, media sources, and twenty-two semi-structured interviews with activists and community leaders, lawyers, scientists, and government officials to better interpret and contextualize the court archival data.

City & Community, 2022

Activists opposing urban water privatization often continue organizing even after water infrastru... more Activists opposing urban water privatization often continue organizing even after water infrastructure returns to the public sector. Why? Analyzing water privatization and renationalization in Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina, I argue that as these policy changes unfolded, activists from neighborhoods lacking necessary infrastructure organized not only about privatization but also around place. Place-based mobilization emerged from a longstanding lack of services as well as environmental threats like flooding and pollution affecting residents’ daily lives. While privatization activated collective action, amplified by a broader economic crisis and protest cycle, it was organizing grounded in local environmental conditions and associational spaces that sustained it. The analysis, based on historical and interview data, reveals continuities and disjunctures between neoliberal and state-led modes of social provision, showing how place makes large-scale policy changes tangible and shapes patterns of collective action in a major South American metropolitan area.

Sociology of Development

Opposition to the social and environmental impacts of large-scale mining has become more visible ... more Opposition to the social and environmental impacts of large-scale mining has become more visible in Chile since the early 1990s, yet not all mining projects catalyze mobilization. Building on the concept of defensive mobilization, I argue that opposition is more likely when a project is perceived as a threat to some members of a community. Using a data set of all major mining projects submitted for environmental licensing since environmental impact assessments were implemented in Chile, I identify the conditions under which mining projects lead to opposition. The results, based on binary logistic regression analysis, show that projects threatening agrarian and indigenous communities, where threats to existing water and land uses are especially salient, are more likely to be opposed. Community challenges are also more likely for projects majority-owned by international investors. About four out of every ten proposed projects have faced opposition, and only a handful of projects have ever been definitively rejected, even as projects that are found to violate regulations are increasingly fined and challenged in court as well as facing protests and public scrutiny.

European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, 2018

Silva, E., Akchurin, M., & Bebbington, A. J. (2018). Policy Effects of Resistance against Mega-Pr... more Silva, E., Akchurin, M., & Bebbington, A. J. (2018). Policy Effects of Resistance against Mega-Projects in Latin America: An Introduction. European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, (106), 23–46. DOI: http://doi.org/10.32992/erlacs.10397

In this introductory article, we present the special issue and outline our research agenda on extractive development, social mobilization, and policy impact in Latin America. We propose a shift in analytical focus from the study of resistance to studying the policy and institutional impacts of mobilization. We outline possible outcomes of interest and conditions contributing to the attainment of policy and institutional change. These conditions include movement characteristics – such as coalitions, repertoires, and alliances with state actors – and the socioeconomic, political, and ideational conditions that shape and constrain patterns of mobilization and the likelihood and durability of its impact. We also sketch the core themes and findings of the articles comprising the special issue, which cover sectors including mining, hydroelectricity, oil extraction, and accompanying infrastructural expansion across Central and South America. Several of the articles show how mobilization led to policy change while others caution against being overly optimistic about policy change without durable shifts in the structures that keep development models that prioritize the large-scale extraction of natural resources in place. We conclude by identifying pending questions and avenues for future research.

Esta introducción al número especial delinea nuestra agenda de investigación sobre el desarrollo extractivo, movilización social, y su impacto en políticas nacionales en América Latina. Proponemos un cambio en el enfoque analítico pasando del estudio de la resistencia a sus impactos en políticas e instituciones. Esbozamos posibles resultados e identificamos condiciones que contribuyen al cambio político e institucional. Estas incluyen (1) características de los movimientos, como coaliciones, repertorios de acción contenciosa, y alianzas con actores estatales, y (2) condiciones socioeconómicas, políticas e ideológicas que forman y limitan tanto los patrones de movilización como la probabilidad y duración de sus impactos. De ahí pasamos a esbozar los temas centrales y hallazgos de los artículos que comprenden este número especial. Estos cubren sectores como la minería, la hidroelectricidad, la extracción de petróleo y la correspondiente expansión de infraestructura en América Central y del Sur. Varios de los artículos muestran cómo la movilización derivó en un cambio de política, mientras que otros trabajos cautelan contra excesivo optimismo sobre la durabilidad de cambios en ausencia de transformaciones en las estructuras que mantienen modelos de desarrollo que priorizan la extracción a gran escala de recursos naturales. Concluimos con una reflexión sobre preguntas pendientes y pistas para nuevas investigaciones.

This article examines how different repertoires of women’s activism influence gender earnings equ... more This article examines how different repertoires of women’s activism influence gender earnings equality across countries. We develop a typology of three forms of mobilization— professionalized women’s activism, labor women’s activism, and women’s activism in popular movements—emphasizing distinct actors, patterns of claims-making, and inter-organizational ties among women’s organizations and other civil society groups in multi-organizational fields. Based on data on membership and co-membership ties built using World Values Surveys, we test the effects of different repertoires of women’s activism on earnings equality between women and men in 51 countries. We also consider a gendered development model and the role of welfare states as main explanatory variables in accounting for the gap in earnings. Our findings suggest that even in the presence of these alternative explanations, women’s activism matters. Furthermore, women’s organizations with access to institutional politics, through either direct advocacy or ties to unions or professional associations, have had the most success in promoting gender earnings equality. Our research contributes to prior work on social movement outcomes by conceptualizing women’s mobilization in the context of fields and further testing its effects on distributional outcomes in a comparative perspective.

In 2008, the Republic of Ecuador became the first country to grant legal rights to nature. In thi... more In 2008, the Republic of Ecuador became the first country to grant legal rights to nature. In this article, I examine how this new category of rights became incorporated into the country’s constitution. My analysis shows that while proponents of nature’s rights effectively took advantage of a key political moment, it is unlikely their efforts would have succeeded without two historical developments: first, the presence of environmentalist social movements that elevated the environmental agenda at the national level during prior decades, and second, the power of indigenous organizations and their call to recognize Ecuador as a ‘plurinational’ polity, a form of multiculturalism which, along with demanding respect for indigenous territories and ways of life, incorporates politicized versions of indigenous beliefs about the environment. The study considers the consequences of mobilization for legal innovation and institutional change, as well as showing the complexity of struggles over the environment in the global South. The article is based on research at the Ecuadorian National Legislative Assembly archive, semi-structured interviews with respondents involved in the politics of nature and the constitutional assembly, and secondary historical sources.

Book Reviews by Maria Akchurin

Extractive Industries and Society, 2023

With the judicialization of politics and the creation of new environmental institutions, environm... more With the judicialization of politics and the creation of new environmental institutions, environmental litigation is now an increasingly common dimension of socioenvironmental conflicts. This study examines this pattern in the context of recently created environmental courts in Chile, focusing on lithium and copper mining litigation in the Atacama salt flats of the Antofagasta Region. I argue that while the courts are formally open to a wide variety of legal complaints, community groups face an uphill battle when using legal mobilization strategies due to the underlying political and economic power of the mining industry in northern Chile. Nevertheless, environmental litigation matters for environmental policy implementation because it reveals conflicts over environmental compliance, highlighting gaps between environmental laws on the books and actual practices. In this sense, environmental litigation activates environmental regulations and can provide communities with greater leverage to demand stronger enforcement, even as the long-term implications of judicial rulings for addressing current and past harms remain to be seen. The paper is based on documents from the Chilean environmental courts database, media sources, and twenty-two semi-structured interviews with activists and community leaders, lawyers, scientists, and government officials to better interpret and contextualize the court archival data.

City & Community, 2022

Activists opposing urban water privatization often continue organizing even after water infrastru... more Activists opposing urban water privatization often continue organizing even after water infrastructure returns to the public sector. Why? Analyzing water privatization and renationalization in Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina, I argue that as these policy changes unfolded, activists from neighborhoods lacking necessary infrastructure organized not only about privatization but also around place. Place-based mobilization emerged from a longstanding lack of services as well as environmental threats like flooding and pollution affecting residents’ daily lives. While privatization activated collective action, amplified by a broader economic crisis and protest cycle, it was organizing grounded in local environmental conditions and associational spaces that sustained it. The analysis, based on historical and interview data, reveals continuities and disjunctures between neoliberal and state-led modes of social provision, showing how place makes large-scale policy changes tangible and shapes patterns of collective action in a major South American metropolitan area.

Sociology of Development

Opposition to the social and environmental impacts of large-scale mining has become more visible ... more Opposition to the social and environmental impacts of large-scale mining has become more visible in Chile since the early 1990s, yet not all mining projects catalyze mobilization. Building on the concept of defensive mobilization, I argue that opposition is more likely when a project is perceived as a threat to some members of a community. Using a data set of all major mining projects submitted for environmental licensing since environmental impact assessments were implemented in Chile, I identify the conditions under which mining projects lead to opposition. The results, based on binary logistic regression analysis, show that projects threatening agrarian and indigenous communities, where threats to existing water and land uses are especially salient, are more likely to be opposed. Community challenges are also more likely for projects majority-owned by international investors. About four out of every ten proposed projects have faced opposition, and only a handful of projects have ever been definitively rejected, even as projects that are found to violate regulations are increasingly fined and challenged in court as well as facing protests and public scrutiny.

European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, 2018

Silva, E., Akchurin, M., & Bebbington, A. J. (2018). Policy Effects of Resistance against Mega-Pr... more Silva, E., Akchurin, M., & Bebbington, A. J. (2018). Policy Effects of Resistance against Mega-Projects in Latin America: An Introduction. European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, (106), 23–46. DOI: http://doi.org/10.32992/erlacs.10397

In this introductory article, we present the special issue and outline our research agenda on extractive development, social mobilization, and policy impact in Latin America. We propose a shift in analytical focus from the study of resistance to studying the policy and institutional impacts of mobilization. We outline possible outcomes of interest and conditions contributing to the attainment of policy and institutional change. These conditions include movement characteristics – such as coalitions, repertoires, and alliances with state actors – and the socioeconomic, political, and ideational conditions that shape and constrain patterns of mobilization and the likelihood and durability of its impact. We also sketch the core themes and findings of the articles comprising the special issue, which cover sectors including mining, hydroelectricity, oil extraction, and accompanying infrastructural expansion across Central and South America. Several of the articles show how mobilization led to policy change while others caution against being overly optimistic about policy change without durable shifts in the structures that keep development models that prioritize the large-scale extraction of natural resources in place. We conclude by identifying pending questions and avenues for future research.

Esta introducción al número especial delinea nuestra agenda de investigación sobre el desarrollo extractivo, movilización social, y su impacto en políticas nacionales en América Latina. Proponemos un cambio en el enfoque analítico pasando del estudio de la resistencia a sus impactos en políticas e instituciones. Esbozamos posibles resultados e identificamos condiciones que contribuyen al cambio político e institucional. Estas incluyen (1) características de los movimientos, como coaliciones, repertorios de acción contenciosa, y alianzas con actores estatales, y (2) condiciones socioeconómicas, políticas e ideológicas que forman y limitan tanto los patrones de movilización como la probabilidad y duración de sus impactos. De ahí pasamos a esbozar los temas centrales y hallazgos de los artículos que comprenden este número especial. Estos cubren sectores como la minería, la hidroelectricidad, la extracción de petróleo y la correspondiente expansión de infraestructura en América Central y del Sur. Varios de los artículos muestran cómo la movilización derivó en un cambio de política, mientras que otros trabajos cautelan contra excesivo optimismo sobre la durabilidad de cambios en ausencia de transformaciones en las estructuras que mantienen modelos de desarrollo que priorizan la extracción a gran escala de recursos naturales. Concluimos con una reflexión sobre preguntas pendientes y pistas para nuevas investigaciones.

This article examines how different repertoires of women’s activism influence gender earnings equ... more This article examines how different repertoires of women’s activism influence gender earnings equality across countries. We develop a typology of three forms of mobilization— professionalized women’s activism, labor women’s activism, and women’s activism in popular movements—emphasizing distinct actors, patterns of claims-making, and inter-organizational ties among women’s organizations and other civil society groups in multi-organizational fields. Based on data on membership and co-membership ties built using World Values Surveys, we test the effects of different repertoires of women’s activism on earnings equality between women and men in 51 countries. We also consider a gendered development model and the role of welfare states as main explanatory variables in accounting for the gap in earnings. Our findings suggest that even in the presence of these alternative explanations, women’s activism matters. Furthermore, women’s organizations with access to institutional politics, through either direct advocacy or ties to unions or professional associations, have had the most success in promoting gender earnings equality. Our research contributes to prior work on social movement outcomes by conceptualizing women’s mobilization in the context of fields and further testing its effects on distributional outcomes in a comparative perspective.

In 2008, the Republic of Ecuador became the first country to grant legal rights to nature. In thi... more In 2008, the Republic of Ecuador became the first country to grant legal rights to nature. In this article, I examine how this new category of rights became incorporated into the country’s constitution. My analysis shows that while proponents of nature’s rights effectively took advantage of a key political moment, it is unlikely their efforts would have succeeded without two historical developments: first, the presence of environmentalist social movements that elevated the environmental agenda at the national level during prior decades, and second, the power of indigenous organizations and their call to recognize Ecuador as a ‘plurinational’ polity, a form of multiculturalism which, along with demanding respect for indigenous territories and ways of life, incorporates politicized versions of indigenous beliefs about the environment. The study considers the consequences of mobilization for legal innovation and institutional change, as well as showing the complexity of struggles over the environment in the global South. The article is based on research at the Ecuadorian National Legislative Assembly archive, semi-structured interviews with respondents involved in the politics of nature and the constitutional assembly, and secondary historical sources.