Abstract
ABSTRACTOne of the distinctive features of environmental justice theory in Latin America is its influence by decolonial thought, which explains social and environmental injustices as arising from the project of modernity and the ongoing expansion of a European cultural imaginary. The decolonization of knowledge and social relations is highlighted as one of the key challenges for overcoming the history of violent oppression and marginalization in development and conservation practice in the region. In this paper we discuss how conflict transformation theory and practice has a role to play in this process. In doing so, we draw on the Socio-environmental Conflict Transformation (SCT) framework elaborated by Grupo Confluencias, which puts a focus on building community capacity to impact different spheres of power: people and networks, structures and cultural power. We discuss this framework and its practical use in the light of ongoing experiences with indigenous peoples in Latin America. We propose that by strengthening the power of agency of indigenous peoples to impact each of these spheres it is possible to build constructive intra and intercultural relations that can help increase social and environmental justice in their territories and thus contribute to decolonizing structures, relations and ways of being.
Highlights
Over the last three decades, indigenous peoples have become central players in environmental justice struggles in Latin America
These are the words of Domingo Namuncura, Mapuche leader from Chile expressing his views in 1999 about a dam built in the Bio Bio River. He was quoted by David Schlosberg and David Carruthers in a recent publication (2010), where the authors made a case for developing a community capabilities approach to environmental justice theory
They rightly argue that indigenous peoples’ environmental justice struggles are not merely about procedural, distributive and recognition issues, as environmental justice is commonly conceptualized in the Global North, but about wider capability issues linked to the health of the environment, the protection of traditional village economies, respect for sacred sites and the preservation of native religion, language, culture and practice, which undergird a quest for the basic functioning of communities and the integrity of cultures
Summary
Over the last three decades, indigenous peoples have become central players in environmental justice struggles in Latin America. In order to illustrate our framework, we draw on work carried out with indigenous peoples from different parts of Latin America (Argentina, Bolivia, Guatemala and Venezuela) to transform socio-environmental conflicts.
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