Post by Sapphire Capital on Aug 26, 2008 20:43:55 GMT 4
Oil Politics in the Amazon: From Ethnocide to Resistance and Survival
Teresa Martinez
University of Strathclyde
eSharp, No. 11, Spring 2008
Abstract:
Indigenous peoples have resisted the colonization of their territory and their souls for hundreds of years. The contemporary experience is of transnational corporations operating in their territory, competing for the precious natural resources they have traditionally preserved. The paper starts by discussing how theory can contribute to self-determination and emancipation of indigenous people by celebrating their resistance as one of their survival mechanisms in opposition to other approaches that focus on the assimilation and oppression of indigenous groups. The central argument is that the development of the oil industry in the Amazon basin has been and still is one of the vectors of ethnocide of indigenous peoples and is at the same time triggering short and long-term resistance as a response to the 'oil conflict' and 'corporate globalization', their ultimate goal being their self-determination and survival as peoples. I conclude by stating that indigenous life projects and alternative understandings of development can shape the way towards a 'post-neoliberal civilization' based on diversity and egalitarianism versus cultural homogenization and unfair distribution of resources.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID1179510_code1077374.pdf?abstractid=1179510&mirid=2
Teresa Martinez
University of Strathclyde
eSharp, No. 11, Spring 2008
Abstract:
Indigenous peoples have resisted the colonization of their territory and their souls for hundreds of years. The contemporary experience is of transnational corporations operating in their territory, competing for the precious natural resources they have traditionally preserved. The paper starts by discussing how theory can contribute to self-determination and emancipation of indigenous people by celebrating their resistance as one of their survival mechanisms in opposition to other approaches that focus on the assimilation and oppression of indigenous groups. The central argument is that the development of the oil industry in the Amazon basin has been and still is one of the vectors of ethnocide of indigenous peoples and is at the same time triggering short and long-term resistance as a response to the 'oil conflict' and 'corporate globalization', their ultimate goal being their self-determination and survival as peoples. I conclude by stating that indigenous life projects and alternative understandings of development can shape the way towards a 'post-neoliberal civilization' based on diversity and egalitarianism versus cultural homogenization and unfair distribution of resources.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID1179510_code1077374.pdf?abstractid=1179510&mirid=2