Abstract

Conflicts over how natural resources are governed have become an increasingly important factor in the relationship between a government and its citizens. Over the past decade, those who have challenged their government’s right to extract local natural resources have been subject to a large amount of state repression and violence. This study seeks to understand when this is more likely to occur. Specifically, it asks: Do the types of demands a movement poses to the state within an environmental conflict affect the level of repression it encounters? Building off the work of past studies of both environmental conflict and repression, I hypothesize that within environmental conflicts, the more a movement challenges a government’s monopoly on nature within its borders (represented by its ability to extract resources), the more likely said movement will face repression. To test this hypothesis, this paper employs a comparative case study analysis of four environmental conflicts in Ecuador during the tenure of former President Rafael Correa (2007-2017). These case studies were chosen through the use of the Environmental Justice Atlas, a database of over 3,800 environmental conflicts from across the world. With statistical data analysis of all cases in Ecuador and deeper research into the four chosen case studies, I find support for my hypothesis. Specifically, I find that groups whose demands seek to prevent natural resource extraction from occurring prior to a project beginning are more likely to encounter state repression in environmental conflicts than those whose challenges occur in reaction to an ongoing project, or after a project has been completed.

Advisor

Haider, Erum

Department

Political Science

Disciplines

Comparative Politics

Keywords

Ecuador, Environmental Conflict, Environmental Justice, Political Violence, Extractivism, Repression, Resource Extraction

Publication Date

2023

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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