Oil or ‘life’: the dilemma inherent in the yasuní-ITT initiative

Abstract

In 2007 Ecuador was the first oil dependent country to propose leaving oil reserves in the ground in exchange for partial compensation. The ITT oil fields are located in one extremely biodiverse area but one also highly compromised by extractive activities. Two mutually exclusive narratives: oil or ‘life’ emerged around the so-called ITT initiative. How did these narratives help overcome the extractivism dilemma in Ecuador? In order to understand the political effects of this dilemma, I examine the narratives used in its promotion. This paper shows, firstly, that with the environmental narrative, using ‘either/or’ positions such as oil or ‘life’, rather than ‘both/and’ arguments, the Initiative remained trapped in a polarized discursive field. Meanwhile, the governmental narrative sought to create an image of green development, wherein both oil and ‘life’ were possible and even ‘desirable’ for the redistribution of oil wealth. My paper argues that the debate about the Initiative, rather than providing an arena for emancipatory discussion about how to overcome extractivism has in practice caused its de-politicization. In conclusion, while the anti extractivism narrative proved incapable of moving beyond a conservation approach, the government’s development strategy proposed to overcome extractivism by using more extractivism rather than less.