Partnership for development in the extractive sector: protecting subterranean interests? (original) (raw)

2017, Journal of Environmental Policy&Planning

Partnerships for Development (PfD) is the antidote that extractive industries have used over the last decade to counteract the proliferation of conflicts with local communities. Normatively, the concept of ‘partnership’ positions companies as actors on an equal footing with others in their attempts to collaborate to achieve development outcomes. This article analyses how the PfD strategy has been crafted and implemented in the extractive sector and assess its potential to contribute significantly to local development. Using the Foucauldian framework on power/knowledge and genealogy, we explain how, in a relatively short time, the interaction between context, preexisting discourses, and actors’ interests shaped the PfD discourse and made it famous. The second part of the paper goes beyond the normative conceptualisation and analyses the implementation of PfD through the case studies of the Antamina copper mine in Peru and the Pacific Rubiales oil operation in Colombia. The companies use the PfD discourse to advance their interest vis-à-vis the different stakeholders, minimising the risk of conflicts and cultivating their reputation. These companies resort to the fragmentation of bargaining spaces and rely on the legitimacy provided by paid experts. The result is that PfD has limited capacity to promote local sustainable development.

Participation on the Edge: Prior Consultation and Extractivism in Latin America

Journal of Politics in Latin America, 2018

Violent conflicts between indigenous groups, multinational companies, and governments over the control of lands potentially containing valuable minerals and hydrocarbons are proliferating in Latin America, as well as elsewhere around the world too. In 1989 the International Labor Organization (ILO) approved ILO Convention 169, which mandates the implementation of prior consultation (PC) with indigenous peoples about any project that could potentially affect their territory. Many interpretations regarding the aims and scopes of PC exist. Some environmental sectors see PC as a mechanism to prevent the implementation of ecologically unsustainable projects in indigenous territories. Part of the indigenous rights sector, however, sees PC as a platform via which to negotiate financial resources for indigenous communities. On the side of governments and multinational companies, PC represents a means to diminish violence and advance projects under more stable political conditions. By examining mining and hydrocarbon projects in Bolivia, Peru, and Mexico, the authors compare cases in which PC takes place and ones where it is not applied. A typology of the outcomes in relation to 1) the prevention of industrialized resource extraction on indigenous lands, 2) redistribution of economic benefits produced by extractive projects, and 3) diminishment of the state repression associated with extractive projects is offered. Findings show that in many cases all three of these results are not simultaneously achieved; the authors explain why some outcomes might be obtained in certain instances and not in others. Finally, the article offers an overall assessment of PC results in light of participation theories.

Collaboration between Corporations, Non-Governmental Organizations, and Indigenous Communities: The Bridge Strategy to Pursue Sustainable Development in the Oil & Gas Industry in Latin America

All Days, 2002

Corporations investing in Latin America are facing problems including opposition from indigenous communities and environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs)1, and the activities of guerrillas and drug cartels2 that are making it difficult for them to operate. Collaborative alliances are seen as a strategy that organizations can use to deal with the turbulence and complexity of their environments3. Strategic bridging has proved to be effective to approach collaboration in sensitive areas of operation. The main conclusions are: (a) the complex environment in which corporations operates in Latin America requires collaboration among all stakeholders to achieve common goals of sustainable development; (b) indigenous communities have the potential to collaborate with MNCs; however, they need certain level of education and training; and (c) NGOs possess the necessary expertise to act as a bridge, their participation is essential to explore opportunities of collaboration between in...

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