De-colonizing water. Dispossession, water insecurity, and Indigenous claims for resources, authority, and territory

Juan Pablo Hidalgo,Jeroen Vos,Rutgerd Boelens

doi:10.1007/s12685-016-0186-6

Abstract

Set against the background of struggles for territory, livelihood, and dignified existence in Latin America’s neoliberal conjuncture, this paper examines contemporary Andean Indigenous claims for water access and control rights based on historical arguments. In the case of the Acequia Tabacundo irrigation system in the north-Ecuadorian Highlands, the rights claims deployed in peasant-Indigenous struggles are cultural and social hybrids. They are rooted in Indigenous history, but also spawned by centuries of interaction with and defense against colonial and post-colonial frames imposed by the Spanish Empire, modern Ecuadorian State structures and influences of transnational capital. Through these conflicts over Indigenous water rights, authority, and identity, this article illustrates and examines the role of Indigenous accounts of their water histories, striving to reclaim, and govern their water territories in times of booming export-flower water extraction.

Highlights

In Latin America, as in other regions of the world, transnational trade in agricultural produce is booming
Set against the background of struggles for territory, livelihood, and dignified existence in Latin America’s neoliberal conjuncture, this paper examines contemporary Andean Indigenous claims for water access and control rights based on historical arguments
In the case of the Acequia Tabacundo irrigation system in the north-Ecuadorian Highlands, the rights claims deployed in peasant-Indigenous struggles are cultural and social hybrids

Summary

Introduction

In Latin America, as in other regions of the world, transnational trade in agricultural produce is booming. A clear illustration is the case of peasant and Indigenous communities in the Andean highlands Throughout history, their water security, based on generations of making investments in building and maintaining infrastructure and embedded in collective institutions, has been constantly under threat of colonial and neo-colonial encroachment powers and practices (Hoogesteger and Verzijl 2015; Terhorst et al 2013; Zimmerer 2000). These days, the water they need for their livelihoods and food security is increasingly being seized by powerful actors, national elites, and transnational enterprises who are often supported by public policies and investments that favor re-allocations to supposedly more productive or efficient uses (Achterhuis et al 2010; Vos and Boelens 2014).

Dispossession of Indigenous waters and the dynamics of identity politics

Cattle farming

Complaints and strategies by Indigenous communities

Findings

Conclusions