Who Speaks for Nature? : Indigenous Movements, Public Opinion, and the Petro-State in Ecuador

In 2009, Ecuador became the first nation ever to enshrine rights for nature in its constitution. Nature was accorded inalienable rights, and every citizen was granted standing to defend those rights. At the same time, the government advanced a policy of "extractive populism," buying public support for mineral mining by promising that funds from the mining would be used to increase public services. This book, based on a nationwide survey and interviews about environmental attitudes among citizens as well as indigenous, environmental, government, academic, and civil society leaders in Ecuador, offers a theory about when and why individuals will speak for nature, particularly when economic interests are at stake. Parting from conventional social science arguments that political attitudes are determined by ethnicity or social class, the authors argue that environmental dispositions in developing countries are shaped by personal experiences of vulnerability to environmental degradation. Abstract appeals to identity politics, on the other hand, are less effective. Ultimately, this book argues that indigenous groups should be the stewards of nature, but that they must do so by appealing to the concrete, everyday vulnerabilities they face, rather than by turning to the more abstract appeals of ethnic-based movements. Parting from conventional social science arguments that people speak for the ethnic groups they represent or for social or class-based groups, this study argues that attitudes of Ecuador's Amazon citizens are shaped by environmental vulnerability, & specifically exposure to environmental degradation. Using results of a nationwide survey to show that vulnerability matters in determining environmental attitudes of respondents, the authors argue that groups might have more success mobilizing on behalf of the environment through geographically based 'polycentric rights,' rather than through more traditional & ethnically bound multicultural rights. This text offers among the first methodological bridges between scholarship considering social movements, & predominantly ethnic groups, as primary agents of environmental change in Latin America & those emphasizing the agency of individuals Cover Series Who Speaks for Nature? Copyright Contents Acknowledgments 1. Beyond Multiculturalism: Vulnerability Politics and the Environment in Latin America 2. Multiculturalism Versus Polycentric Pluralism: Vulnerability Challenges Post-​Materialist Values on Ecuador’s Oil Extraction Frontier 3. Does Prior Consultation Diminish Extractive Conflict or Channel It to New Venues? Evidence From Ecuador and the Andes 4. Crude Bargaining: Indigenous Ambivalence Regarding Oil Extraction in the Ecuadorian Amazon 5. How Science, Religion, and Politics Influence Indigenous Attitudes on Climate Change in Ecuador 6. Exploring the Contradiction of Extractive Populism Between Domestic and International Politics in Ecuador 7. How to Effectively Speak for Nature? Appendix A. Description of Variables Used in Analysis Appendix B. Survey Sample Design Bibliography Index Using the first national survey in Ecuador featuring an oversample of Amazon indigenous communities, this path-breaking book argues that how vulnerable or exposed people have been to environmental degradation determines how strongly they feel about saving the environment. Rather than emphasizing ethnic identity or stakeholders' ideological pre-dispositions towards environmentalism, the authors argue that on the front lines of environmental conservation, peoples' views are driven by personal experiences of vulnerability. Using the survey and hundreds of interviews across Ecuador over three year