Abstract
ABSTRACTThe rights to prior consultation and compensation have been established within the framework of international indigenous peoples’ rights. However, in practice these processes have often gone hand in hand with adverse social consequences for local populations, such as the exacerbation of conflicts, the division of communities and the weakening of indigenous organizations. These phenomena have received little attention, despite their great relevance for these populations. This article sheds light on the use by the Bolivian state and extraction corporations of exclusionary participation and negotiation processes, on the one hand, and ‘carrot‐and‐stick’ techniques on the other, which have together accounted for negative social impacts on the ground. The article is based on recently conducted field research, focus group discussions and semi‐structured interviews in Guaraní communities in Bolivia. The findings extend the existing literature by providing a fine‐grained and systematic analysis of divisive undertakings and their sociocultural and sociopolitical consequences in neo‐extractivist Bolivia. The broader implications of the study add to academic debates about participation in development, about ‘divide‐and‐rule’ tactics and about the practice of indigenous peoples’ rights.
Highlights
The further enhancement of extractivist and neo-extractivist development paths in the 21st century has attracted increasing academic and publicWe would like to thank CEJIS Bolivia and its director Hernan Avila M. for the warm collaboration with his team
While the rights to prior consultation, FPIC and compensation are conceived of as tools for empowering indigenous peoples and enhancing their collective rights, our findings from concrete state-led consultation processes and company-led negotiations over compensation payments in Bolivia show that these practices have had a shady side: they have caused serious adverse social consequences at the local level
Our study reveals that divide-and-rule tactics used by the state and extraction corporations alike have exacerbated local conflicts, debilitated indigenous organizational structures and divided communities
Summary
We would like to thank CEJIS Bolivia and its director Hernan Avila M. for the warm collaboration with his team. We discuss the broader implications of our study with regard to collective rights, indigenous politics and natural resource extraction Both authors of this article have carried out extensive field research on prior consultation processes in Guaranı communities in Bolivia’s hydrocarbon-rich department of Santa Cruz. The second author carried out approximately 12 months of fieldwork (April 2014 to April 2015), including six months of field research in the Guaranı captaincy of Alto Parapeti We both participated as observers in consultation processes and internal assemblies of the APG and conducted a total of 120 semi-structured interviews and several focus group discussions with local actors, and with representatives from the central state and from private and public hydrocarbon corporations. Captaincies are composed of local Guaranı communities that affiliate with and form a larger subnational political-territorial entity
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