[RBEUR] Call for thematic dossier: Neoextractivism and authoritarianism: economy, ecology, politics and territory

Revista Brasileira de Estudos Urbanos e Regionais (Brazilian Journal of Urban and Regional Studies)

Call for thematic dossier: Neoextractivism and authoritarianism: economy, ecology, politics and territory

Coordinators:

Astrid Ulloa (Universidad Nacional de Colombia)

Henri Acselrad (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro)

Fernando Michelotti (Universidade Federal do Sul e Sudeste do Pará)

The intention of this dossier is to assemble studies on the relationships established among the forms of commodity exporting capitalism, which has developed across Latin America in the political field since the 2000s. The proposal is to discuss the extent to which this type of capitalist development differs from the traditional model of the primary-export economy, in particular, considering its subordination to the decision-making centers of global capitalism, which has currently not only presented itself as being political and economic, but also financial, and ecological and territorial. The intertwining characteristic between economics, politics and ecology, in this type of subordinated capitalism, certainly enables authoritarian traits to be identified, which exemplify the expropriating nature of the forms adopted by both agribusiness and mining agents in order to appropriate space vis-à-vis the land and resources of the peasantry, and of indigenous and traditional communities. Strategies to expand the territorial frontiers of agro-mineral extractivism have disregarded rights and have created conflict situations increasingly marked by armed violence, and the brutalization and extermination of those who defend human rights, particularly indigenous and environmental activists. Added to this are the infralegal changes that make procedures more flexible, that accelerate or fund environmental studies and licenses, weaken inspection activities, and constrain public servants, together with a series of legislative proposals that seek to appropriate land that is outside the market.

Attention is drawn to the circulating flow of authoritarian arrangements between the State and corporations, between actions and schematics that have previously been experienced during dictatorships and similar systems, which large extractive corporations are continually employing so as to control territories that are of interest to their businesses. The practices of the so-called “corporate social responsibility”, for example, which, by offering certain “benefits”, enable large corporations to try and prevent any affected communities from mobilizing or joining social movements, suggest that there is a consonance between them and the so-called civic-social actions that have been adopted by the armed forces as an instrument of anti-insurgency during dictatorships. Whether through the military or the departments of social responsibility of corporations, it is supposed that such strategies are passed off as a favor, offering the populations what is their constitutionally guaranteed right, be it in the areas of health, education or others. Anticipating conflicts and, in some cases, adopting the discourse of sustainability, they seek to ensure that any open, informed debate regarding their occupation of territories excludes the involvement of the very populations that live and work there.

Within this context, new configurations of extractivism have arisen from the corporate appropriation of the climate crisis. This is the decarbonization proposal, involving, for example, the carbon market and so-called clean energies, such as solar, wind, blue and green hydrogen, and even nuclear energy. These policies and projects are based on new socio-technical and socio-political processes, related with environmental and sustainability ideals, but linked to the complementary dynamics of mining, extractive processes and the market. The idea is to complement and compensate, producing and reproducing the same logic in a systematic manner. Capitalism, extractivism and territories are thereby reconfigured.

The intention of the present dossier is to discuss the confluence between State authoritarianism and corporate authoritarianism, while remaining attentive to the new devices of financialized capitalism, which frequently presents itself concurrently as extractive and ecologically modernized. That said, some possible axes of this dossier are proposed below:

  1) the political, legal, social and economic technologies typical of neoliberal governmentality associated with a colonial order of power that discursively updates the processes of dispossession: the environmentalization of extractive corporations, energy transitions and their effects on indigenous and traditional territories and populations; policies and projects of corporate social and environmental responsibility.

  2) the leading role played by representations of the business sector in political movements alongside the executive and legislative powers, with a significant incorporation of their agendas; pressure to legalize measures and policies responsible for disqualifying territorial and environmental rights and making people and communities of the countryside, forests and waters vulnerable.

 3) the intersections between class, race, gender and ethnic discrimination in the modes of domination assumed by authoritarian neoliberalism in the territories coveted by extractive capitalism.

 4) critical epistemologies and their contributions to rethinking the political ecology of neoextractivist regimes.

 5) the political alliances between corporations and regional oligarchies that articulate interests and strategies of territorial domination and their effects on the processes of dispossession, violence and ecological destruction.

Colleagues from different disciplines with an interest in the theme of this dossier are invited to submit original articles that consider the themes and approaches presented herein. Texts may be submitted in Portuguese, Spanish or English.

The editorial guidelines for preparing and presenting texts are defined by RBEUR and are available at: https://rbeur.anpur.org.br/rbeur/about/submissions

Articles for this dossier must be sent via the RBEUR website by May 15, 2023.