Abstract
There is a convergence of land access and environmental justice claims in many of the struggles against extractive activities in Latin America. Drawing on the notion of territory, this chapter explores the nexus between land access, environmental justice and extractivism. The analysis builds on empirical qualitative research on three case studies of peasant struggles for land in the context of the expansion of oil palm agro-industrial cultivation in Colombia since the year 2000. The chapter shows how extractive activities deprive rural populations of their territories through both land access dispossession and socio-environmental transformations. The effects of this territorial deprivation concern four key dimensions of environmental justice: distribution, recognition, participation and capabilities.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bebbington, A. (2004). Livelihood transitions, place transformations: Grounding globalization and modernity. In R. N. Gwynne & K. Cristobal (Eds.), Latin America transformed. Globalization and modernity (2nd ed., pp. 173–192). London: Arnold.
Bebbington, A. (Ed.) (2012). Social conflict, economic development and extractive industry: Evidence from South America. Abingdon: Routledge.
Bebbington, A., & Batterbury, S. P. J. (2001). Transnational livelihoods and landscapes: Political ecologies of globalization. Ecumene, 8(4), 369–380.
Beltrán Ramírez, L. (2008). Parceleros de San Alberto. Un conflicto con Indupalma. Barrancabermeja: CDPMM (unpublished).
Bryant, R. (1992). Political ecology: An emerging research agenda in third-world studies. Political Geography, 11(1), 12–36.
Burchardt, H.-J., & Dietz, K. (2014). (Neo-)extractivism – A new challenge for development theory from Latin America. Third World Quarterl, 35(3), 468–486.
Carruthers, D. V. (Ed.) (2008). Environmental justice in Latin America: Problems, promise, and practice. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Castiblanco, C., Etter, A., & Aide, T. M. (2013). Oil palm plantations in Colombia: A model of future expansion. Environmental Science & Policy, 27, 172–183.
Constitutional Court of Colombia. (2011). Sentencia T-267, 2011.
Contreras, M. (Dir.) & Figueroa, R. (Prod.) (2010, November 12). La tierra y el territorio, online video clip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L59hqRcRfyU#t=477. Accessed 15 Mar 2014.
Defensoría del Pueblo (2011). Informe de Seguimiento 2011 a la Sentencia T-025 de 2004. Bogotá: Defensoría del Pueblo.
El Tiempo. (2009, July 16). Polémica por desalojo de desplazados en sur de Bolívar. El Tiempo. http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-5642386. Accessed 31 Aug 2013.
Escobar, A. (2001). Culture sits in places: Reflections on globalism and subaltern strategies of localization. Political Geography, 20(2), 139–174.
Escobar, A. (2006). An ecology of difference: Equality and conflict in a glocalized world. Focaal-European Journal of Anthropology, 47, 120–137.
Fadul Ortíz, M. (2001). Informe Alianzas por la Paz: El Modelo Indupalma. Bogotá: Indupalma.
Fedepalma (2005). Statistical yearbook 2005. Bogotá: Fedepalma.
Fedepalma (2011). Statistical yearbook 2011. Bogotá: Fedepalma.
Forero-Álvarez, J. (2002). La Economía Campesina Colombiana 1990–2001, Cuadernos Tierra y Justicia No. 2. Bogotá: ILSA.
Forero-Álvarez, J. (2013). The economy of family farming production. Cuadernos de Desarrollo Rural, 10(70), 27–45.
Fundación Chasquis Comunicación, Fundación Contravía. (2011). Las Pavas, la hora del retorno, May 4, online video clip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJqXTFD2sFA#t=1444. Accessed 15 Mar 2014.
Haarstad, H. (2012). Extracting justice? Critical themes and challenges in Latin American natural resource governance. In H. Haarstad (Ed.), New political spaces in Latin American natural resource management (pp. 1–16). New York: Palgrave Mcmillan.
INCODER. (2012a). Incoder identificó 10 predios baldíos de la nación en la hacienda ‘Las Pavas”, Boletín de prensa No. 133. Bogotá: Incoder http://www.incoder.gov.co/documentos/Boletines%20septiembre%202012/1493_Bolet%C3%ADn133LasPavasbald%C3%ADos270912.pdf. Accessed 12 Sept 2013.
INCODER. (2012b). Incoder pone punto final al emblématico caso de la hacienda ‘Las Pavas”, Boletín de prensa No. 156. Bogotá: Incoder http://www.incoder.gov.co/documentos/Boletines%20noviembre%202012/Bolet%C3%ADn156DecisiónFinalLasPavas.pdf. Accessed 12 Sept 2013.
Indupalma. (2011). Informe de Sostenibilidad 2010–2011. Bogotá: Indupalma http://www.unglobalcompact.org/system/attachments/15386/original/Informe_Sostenibilidad_INDUPALMA_webpage.pdf?1337024883. Accessed 12 Sept 2013.
Juzgado Promiscuo del Municipio de Aguachica-Cesar. (2010). Court Decision August 23, 2010 on the process Indupalma S.A. Vs Mariela Ayala Espitia. Aguachica/Cesar: Juzgado Promiscuo del Municipio de Aguachica-Cesar.
La Silla Vacía. (2010, October 7). El caso de Indupalma. La Silla Vacía. http://www.lasillavacia.com/queridodiario/18539/el-caso-de-indupalma. Accessed 17 Sept 2013.
Marin-Burgos, V. (2014) Access, Power and Justice in Commodity Frontiers. The political ecology of access to land and palm oil expansion in Colombia. PhD Thesis, Enschede: University of Twente. http://dx.doi.org/10.3990/1.9789036536851. Accessed 13 Dec 2015.
Martinez-Alier, J. (2002). The environmentalism of the poor: A study of ecological conflicts and valuation. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Martinez-Alier, J. (2014). The environmentalism of the poor. Geoforum, 54, 239–241.
Mesa Dishington, J. (2013). Fedepalma, un gremio mirando al futuro. Palmas, 34(1), 73–77.
Muradian, R., Walter, M., & Martinez-Alier, J. (2012). Hegemonic transitions and global shifts in social metabolism: Implications for resource-rich countries. Introduction to the special section. Global Environmental Change, 22(3), 559–567.
Peluso, N. L., & Lund, C. (2011). New frontiers of land control: Introduction. Journal of Peasant Studies, 38(4), 667–681.
Prieto Méndez, A. (2008). Informe el Modelo de Gestión de Indupalma. Bogotá: Indupalma.
Ramón Jácome, G. A. (2010). La Cooperación Internacional de la Unión Europea y los Desafíos Reales del Desplazamiento Forzado en Colombia: Análisis Crítico en el Magdalena Medio, Bachelor thesis. Bogotá: Pontificia Universidad Javeriana.
Ribot, J. C., & Peluso, N. L. (2003). A theory of acces. Rural Sociology, 66(2), 153–181.
Schlosberg, D. (2007). Defining environmental justice: Theories, movements, and nature. New York: Oxford University Press.
Sola Álvarez, M. (2011). Las valoraciones sobre los territorios en resistencia: explorando una tipología. Arena, 2(1), 1–15.
Svampa, M. (2012a). Consenso de los commodities, giro ecoterritorial y pensamiento crítico en América Latina. Revista del Observatorio Social de América Latina, XIII(32), 15–38.
Svampa, M. (2012b). Resource extractivism and alternatives: Latin American perspectives on development. Journal für Entwicklungspolitik, 28(3), 43–73.
The Observer. (2009, September 13). Body shop ethics under fire after Colombian peasant evictions. The Observer online. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/sep/13/body-shop-colombia-evictions. Accessed 31 Aug 2013.
Urkidi, L., & Walter, M. (2011). Dimensions of environmental justice in anti-gold mining movements in Latin America. Geoforum, 42(6), 683–695.
Vargas, R., Mow, J. M., Pérez, M., & Rivas, A. (2010). Report independent commission land conflict – Las Pavas – Bolívar, Colombia. Bogotá: Body Shop and Christian Aid http://www.christianaid.org.uk/images/laspavasreport.pdf. Accessed 12 Sept 2013.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2017 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Marin-Burgos, V. (2017). Oil Palm Expansion and Peasant Environmental Justice Struggles in Colombia. In: Engels, B., Dietz, K. (eds) Contested Extractivism, Society and the State. Development, Justice and Citizenship. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58811-1_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58811-1_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-58810-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-58811-1
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)