Structural limits to effective environmental activism: Post‐neoliberal development, extractive imperative and authoritarianism in Ecuador

Abstract With the election of President Rafael Correa in the 2006 elections, Ecuadorian environmentalists became influential policymaking actors. Agenda‐setting successes were followed by their decisive contribution to determining legislative content and its passing. However, the moment of alliance...

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Main Authors: Murat Arsel, Lorenzo Pellegrini
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-07-01
Series:Geo: Geography and Environment
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/geo2.150
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author Murat Arsel
Lorenzo Pellegrini
author_facet Murat Arsel
Lorenzo Pellegrini
author_sort Murat Arsel
collection DOAJ
description Abstract With the election of President Rafael Correa in the 2006 elections, Ecuadorian environmentalists became influential policymaking actors. Agenda‐setting successes were followed by their decisive contribution to determining legislative content and its passing. However, the moment of alliance between environmentalists and Correa proved to be temporary. Environmentalists returned to a more adversarial posture in relation to the state and its approach to constructing a post‐neoliberal development model that relied on the intensification of primary commodity extraction. Their efficacy in shaping environmental policy making and implementation declined and their activities against oil and mining extraction were met by increasingly authoritarian responses by the state. Structural constraints emerging from the global political economy of environment and development were ultimately decisive in the rise of authoritarianism and the reversal of the agenda of the environmentalists.
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spelling doaj-art-2fc4e68c44a947b9935ed7fbf8032a392025-08-20T02:35:32ZengWileyGeo: Geography and Environment2054-40492024-07-01112n/an/a10.1002/geo2.150Structural limits to effective environmental activism: Post‐neoliberal development, extractive imperative and authoritarianism in EcuadorMurat Arsel0Lorenzo Pellegrini1International Institute of Social Studies Erasmus University Rotterdam The Hague The NetherlandsInternational Institute of Social Studies Erasmus University Rotterdam The Hague The NetherlandsAbstract With the election of President Rafael Correa in the 2006 elections, Ecuadorian environmentalists became influential policymaking actors. Agenda‐setting successes were followed by their decisive contribution to determining legislative content and its passing. However, the moment of alliance between environmentalists and Correa proved to be temporary. Environmentalists returned to a more adversarial posture in relation to the state and its approach to constructing a post‐neoliberal development model that relied on the intensification of primary commodity extraction. Their efficacy in shaping environmental policy making and implementation declined and their activities against oil and mining extraction were met by increasingly authoritarian responses by the state. Structural constraints emerging from the global political economy of environment and development were ultimately decisive in the rise of authoritarianism and the reversal of the agenda of the environmentalists.https://doi.org/10.1002/geo2.150authoritarianismcapitalismEcuadorenvironmental conflictextractivismhuman rights
spellingShingle Murat Arsel
Lorenzo Pellegrini
Structural limits to effective environmental activism: Post‐neoliberal development, extractive imperative and authoritarianism in Ecuador
Geo: Geography and Environment
authoritarianism
capitalism
Ecuador
environmental conflict
extractivism
human rights
title Structural limits to effective environmental activism: Post‐neoliberal development, extractive imperative and authoritarianism in Ecuador
title_full Structural limits to effective environmental activism: Post‐neoliberal development, extractive imperative and authoritarianism in Ecuador
title_fullStr Structural limits to effective environmental activism: Post‐neoliberal development, extractive imperative and authoritarianism in Ecuador
title_full_unstemmed Structural limits to effective environmental activism: Post‐neoliberal development, extractive imperative and authoritarianism in Ecuador
title_short Structural limits to effective environmental activism: Post‐neoliberal development, extractive imperative and authoritarianism in Ecuador
title_sort structural limits to effective environmental activism post neoliberal development extractive imperative and authoritarianism in ecuador
topic authoritarianism
capitalism
Ecuador
environmental conflict
extractivism
human rights
url https://doi.org/10.1002/geo2.150
work_keys_str_mv AT muratarsel structurallimitstoeffectiveenvironmentalactivismpostneoliberaldevelopmentextractiveimperativeandauthoritarianisminecuador
AT lorenzopellegrini structurallimitstoeffectiveenvironmentalactivismpostneoliberaldevelopmentextractiveimperativeandauthoritarianisminecuador