Dimensions of environmental justice in anti-gold mining movements in Latin America

Geoforum 42 (2011) 683–695

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Geoforum

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Dimensions of environmental justice in anti-gold mining movementsin Latin America

Leire Urkidi ⇑,1, Mariana Walter 1,2

Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, ICTA, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Edifici C, Campus UAB, 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Barcelona, Spain

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:Received 18 May 2010Received in revised form 1 June 2011Available online 18 July 2011

Keywords:Environmental justiceResource extraction conflictsParticipationRecognitionJumping scales

0016-7185/$ - see front matter � 2011 Elsevier Ltd. Adoi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2011.06.003

⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 93 581 29 74; faxE-mail addresses: [email protected] (L. Urk

mail.com, [email protected] (M. Walter).1 These authors contributed equally to this study.2 Tel.: +34 93 581 29 74; fax: +34 93 581 33 31.

a b s t r a c t

The present article examines two Latin American gold mining conflicts, one in the city of Esquel (Pata-gonia in Argentina) and the other in Pascua–Lama (Chilean border with Argentina). We identify the emer-gence of three dimensions of environmental justice (distribution, recognition, participation) in the anti-mining movements of these two cases. The study finds that some dimensions of justice appear first (par-ticipation and recognition), while distribution emerges later, as movements jump scales engaging withnational and international networks that provide a systemic perspective of the conflicts. The findingsare consistent with other studies that refer to environmental justice as multi-scalar and context related.We also point to the relevance of studying decision-making procedures and jumping scales to understandhow environmental justice claims are framed in resource extraction conflicts.

� 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

From 1990 to 2001, 12 of the world’s 25 largest investments inmining were made in Latin America: two in Peru, nine in Chile andone in Argentina (Bridge, 2004). In fact, according to the 7th Inter-national Gold Symposium (May 2008, Lima) ‘Latin America is theregion where most gold prospecting took place in the world inthe 1990s and 2000s, and this is set to continue’. This is partlydue to the strict environmental and labour regulations in Canadaand the US, and the political instability in the former Soviet Union,Asia and Africa (Amey and Butterman, 2005). Furthermore, eco-nomic liberalisation reforms undertaken in the Global South sincethe 1980s, added to skyrocketing ore prices (e.g. gold, copper), arefostering a shift of the international geography of mining invest-ment towards the developing world (Bridge, 2004). In the particu-lar case of Chile and Argentina, a bi-national agreement on miningwas signed in 1997, favouring large-scale transnational mining inthe Andes mountain range.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency of the Uni-ted States, hard-rock mining generates more toxic waste thanany other economic sector. In 2008, mining activities emitted80% of the arsenic, 89% of the mercury and 86% of the lead releasedin the US (EPA, 2009). Since the 1990s, more efficient although ris-ky technologies (i.e. cyanide leaching in gold mining) made the

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exploitation of low grade ore deposits technically feasible andprofitable. Such technologies, however, involve high environmen-tal and social impacts (Moran, 2002) and greater environmentalimpacts per unit of gold (Mudd, 2007).

Mining activities have generated environmental conflicts allaround the world (Martínez-Alier, 2001). Conspicuous humanrights violations have taken and still take place in many communi-ties opposing mining projects (Red Muqui, 2009; Castagnino,2006). The Latin American Observatory of Mining Conflicts3 reportsmore than 150 active mining conflicts in the region, most of whichstarted in the 2000s (OCMAL, 2010). Dozens of communities aremobilising and conducting popular referendums or consultationsabout mining (OCMAL, 2010). Tambogrande (Peru, 2002) and Esquel(Argentina, 2003) are emblematic cases as their vote led to the can-cellation of the mining projects.

As mining conflicts multiply in the region, scholarly research onanti-mining movements is expanding. Studies address a diversityof issues, which include the institutional frameworks and territo-rial transformations fostered by these movements, their strategiesand demands, the constructions of narratives across scales and thevaluation languages deployed (Bebbington et al., 2008; Bury, 2005;De Echave et al., 2009; Haarstad and Floysand, 2007; Muradianet al., 2003; Svampa and Antonelli, 2009, Walter and Martinez-Alier, 2010). During the last decades national and regional environ-

3 An observatory composed of more than 40 active Latin American organisations.Its aim is to defend communities affected by mining impacts by disseminating andexchanging information, supporting local and regional campaigns and articulatingactivities. The OCMAL website (www.conflictosmineros.net) has a database oncurrent mining conflicts in Latin America.

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mental justice networks have emerged in Latin America (Acselrad,2008; Carruthers, 2008) where mining concerns and anti-miningmovements have a central place. However, little research hasexplicitly focused on how environmental justice – EJ – dimensionsand demands are framed and articulated in Latin American miningconflicts (Carruthers, 2008; Martínez-Alier, 2001; Pulido, 1996).

In this vein, the present article studies the connections betweenLatin American anti-mining movements and the environmentaljustice framework. Our approach addresses two research needs.Firstly, it improves our understanding of how the EJ discursiveframework travels and is framed by activists in Latin America (Hol-ifield et al., 2009; Swyngedouw and Cook, 2009; Walker, 2009).Secondly, although research has pointed to the plurality of theenvironmental justice movement – EJM – discursive framework(Benford, 2005) and the distributive dimensions of injustice (Sch-losberg, 2007), little is known regarding how EJ claims are shapedover time and across scales and which are the key factors leadingthis process (Benford, 2005; Holifield et al., 2009). In this line,the paper analyses two well-known Latin American mining con-flicts, one in Pascua Lama (Chile) and the second in Esquel (Argen-tina) in order to examine the emergence and deployment of themovements and their demands over time and across scales.

In line with Schlosberg (2007), the article concludes that in bothcase studies participation, recognition and distributional concernsare expressed in intertwined ways. The analysis of the evolution ofdiscourses in each case also highlights the transformations of therelative relevance of each EJ dimension over time. At the onset ofthe conflicts, when the official participatory process is set in place,the dominant claims refer to participation and recognition. Later,as activists engage in supra-local networks with other communi-ties and organisations, and in national and international advocacyactivities, a jumping scale process occurs in which distributiveclaims are emphasised. We suggest that the dimensions of envi-ronmental justice must be analysed in relation to the temporalevolution of conflicts, the decision-making procedures and thejumping scales that take place.

2. Environmental justice

Most scholars agree that the environmental justice conceptcame to be in 1982 when rural, poor, mostly African-Americansfrom Warren County (North Carolina, US) mobilised to oppose aPCB landfill next to their homes4 (Bullard, 1993; Schlosberg,2007). Warren County’s experience marked the emergence of anew type of movement in which environment, anti-racism and civilrights concerns were brought together (Bullard, 1990; Pulido, 1996).In the following years, the environmental justice movement ex-panded to include Hispanic, Native American and poor white groups(Roberts, 2007).

As governmental reports denounced and confirmed the unevenexposure of minorities to toxics and polluting activities (Toxicwaste and race, 1987), the EJ concept gained legitimacy amongscholars (Bullard, 1993, 1996; Melosi, 2004) and politicians. Re-search that emerged during this period focused on the distribu-tional dimension of injustice. Quantitative methods were used tostudy the spatial and social distribution of injustices (Walker andBulkeley, 2009). A strong body of evidence revealed that black peo-ple and other minorities were subjected to disproportionatelyhigher health and environmental risks in their neighbourhoodsand jobs (Bryant and Mohai, 1992; Bullard, 1990).

4 The US anti-toxics movement started with previous episodes of resistance to toxicwaste dumping, such as the case of Love Canal in 1978. Among other EJM precedents,the Highlander Centre of Tennessee has a long history of activism which includescampaigns against strip mining in the Appalachian Mountains beginning in the 1970s.

Research dedicated to the study of mining activities from a spa-tial and economic distribution perspective indicates two trends.Firstly, it underlines that there is a global displacement of invest-ments from the Global North towards the Global South (Bridge,2004). Literature points to a negative effect of oil, gas and mineraldependence on national economic growth and poverty levels in theGlobal South in the form of the so-called ‘resource curse’ (Pegg,2006; Sachs and Warner, 1995). Secondly, studies also show thenegative environmental, economic and social impacts of miningactivities, questioning the long-term positive balance at the locallevel (Pegg, 2006).

However, to reduce the analysis of environmental justice to thedistributional outcome can be a double-edged approach where,depending on the scale of analysis, opposite conclusions can bedrawn. As analysed by Bickerstaff and Agyeman (2009), a ship-breaking company succeeded in locating a facility in a UK coastalvillage by appealing to a global distributive justice. Most of thesehighly polluting facilities are located in poor Asian areas. This argu-ment delegitimised the claims of local inhabitants who framedtheir campaign as a national distributive injustice and participativeexclusion given their long history of industrial pollution and mar-ginalisation. This case illustrates the peril of having distributivearguments shadowing other legitimate environmental justice con-cerns, such as the right to participate in decisions affecting one’slivelihood, or to have one’s civil or human rights respected. Toavoid reductionist approaches, a broader analysis that considersthe structures and procedures generating injustices is needed.

When analysing EJM closely, definitions of justice also include awide range of power, gender, identity, cultural and institutionalconcerns. This diversity of perspectives and framings has inspiredand expanded the scholarly research agenda (Schlosberg, 2007).The process has also fostered the use of qualitative research meth-ods, better suited to grasp this complexity (Holifield et al., 2009).Nevertheless, some authors still defend the need for a universaldefinition of EJ grounded on distributional evidence (Schroederet al., 2008). They argue that a broader definition would weakenthe concept’s explanatory force. However, we consider that a nar-row distributive approach obscures the multiple facets and nuan-ces of EJM demands, and that the ‘‘injustice perceptions andjustice demands are constructed through relative, scale-sensitivepolitical and discursive processes’’ (Debbané and Keil, 2004). In or-der to take into account the heterogeneous claims of EJM and re-cent EJ studies, Schlosberg’s (2007) review identifies three maindimensions of environmental justice: distribution, recognitionand participation (or procedural justice).

2.1. Recognition and participation in EJ

Iris Young (1990) argued that, although distributional mattersare crucial to achieve justice, it would be a mistake to reduce socialjustice to those issues. The distributive paradigm tends to focus thesocial justice analysis on the allocation of material goods, such asresources, income and wealth, or on the distribution of socialstanding. This perspective neglects the relevance of the socialstructure and the institutional context in distribution patterns.Young stresses the significance of power, decision-making proce-dures, division of labour, and culture. According to this perspective,justice must also concern the processes that construct the materialmaldistribution (Honneth, 2001; Walzer, 1983; Young, 1990).

In this direction, some scholars highlight ‘recognition’ as a keydimension of justice (Schlosberg, 2007; Young, 1990; Honneth,2001; Fraser, 1998). According to Fraser (1995), in the case of ‘rec-ognition’ the conditions for a just society are defined as the recog-nition of the personal dignity of all individuals. Recognition notonly refers to the individual right to self-recognition (Honneth,

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2001), but most importantly, to the recognition of collective iden-tities and their particular needs, concerns and livelihoods.

Recognition is particularly relevant to indigenous communities.For years, these groups have demanded the recognition and protec-tion of their culture, livelihood and territorial rights. They have ob-tained national and international legal safeguards due to theirvulnerability and historical discrimination and by focusing ondefining their indigeneity (Kirsch, 2007; Valdivia, 2005). Althoughsignatory countries do not always respect it, ILO Convention 169obliged signing countries (e.g. Chile, Argentina) to consult indige-nous communities before deciding on activities affecting them.Decision-making processes, however, usually do not take indige-nous communities truly into account, forcing them to engage inprocedural disputes to defend their rights (Baker and McLelland,2003).

Procedural justice is a third dimension of environmental justice,and refers to the fair and equitable institutional processes of aState. Here, justice requires not only an understanding of unjustdistribution patterns and the lack of recognition but, more impor-tantly, an understanding of the ways in which the two are tied to-gether in political and social processes (Cole and Foster, 2001;Schlosberg, 2007). When ‘‘patterns of disrespect and disesteemare institutionalized’’ (Fraser, 1998), participatory inequities orexclusions (Agarwal, 2001) appear in institutions and decision-making processes. Cole and Foster (2001) highlight that even ifan EJM could start as a reaction to certain unjust distributionaltrends, activists sometimes complain about their exclusion andmarginalisation from official decision-making processes. Activistsalso point to the structural forces (class, caste, ethnicity and gen-der) that prevent individuals from fully participating in decisionsthat affect their lives.

Since the 1990s, Latin American countries have included andexpanded participation and environmental regulations and rightsthrough, for example, environmental impact assessment mecha-nisms. The adoption of participation criteria for project approvalhas fostered the interest and involvement of affected groups indecision-making processes. However, in many mining conflicts,participatory procedures have often proved to be insufficient orinadequate in terms of taking into account local views and con-cerns and have led to disputes about the decision-making pro-cesses (Muradian et al., 2003, Suryanata and Umemoto, 2005;Walter and Martinez-Alier, 2010). Anti-mining groups frequentlyargue that the approval of mining projects involves the misrecog-nition of their material and cultural dependence on agricultureand ignores the concerns expressed in participatory stages (Haars-tad and Floysand, 2007; Muradian et al., 2003; Urkidi, 2010). Bebb-ington et al. (2008) and Bury (2008) highlight the territorial andinstitutional changes related to mining activities (e.g. land distri-bution and prices, social relations, livelihoods, local organisations);issues that are usually minimised in the official decision-making.Baker and McLelland (2003) suggest that mining decisions fail totake into consideration the values and beliefs of indigenous com-munities. As claimed by Arnstein (1969), different levels of partic-ipation are related to different degrees of recognition.

2.2. Politics of scale in EJ

It has been argued that a ‘‘politics of scale’’ approach allows abetter understanding of EJ and EJM arguments and outcomes. Infact, as stated by Kurtz (2003: p. 891), ‘‘the very concept of envi-ronmental injustice precipitates a politics of scale’’. Some authorsexamine the multiple ways in which environmental justice activ-ists invoke geographical scales to negotiate the meaning and ex-tent of environmental injustices (Williams, 1999; Towers, 2000;Kurtz, 2003). Kurtz (2003) conceptualises ‘‘scale frames’’ as the dis-cursive practices which link ‘‘scales of meaning’’ and ‘‘scales of reg-

ulation’’. While the ‘‘scales of meaning’’ are the scales at which aproblem is experienced and framed in political discourse, ‘‘scalesof regulation’’ refer to the scale at which the problem is politicallyaddressed (Towers, 2000). Following Kurtz’s argument, Bickerstaffand Agyeman (2009) argue that the success of EJM is linked to theircapacity to adjust their scale of meaning with the relevant scale ofregulation.

In relation to Latin American mining conflicts, Haarstad andFloysand (2007) study how, in Tambogrande (Peru), the ability ofthe social movement to draft and re-frame claims in legitimatedterms at different scales empowered the community. They studythe links between scaling-up processes (Smith, 1993, 1996) anddiscourse framing. Williams (1999) suggests that one of the keyfeatures of the US EJM was their capacity to jump across scalesand accurately frame their struggles. Movements scale up or jumpscales when they successfully engage in networks with social ac-tors from different geographical locations and/or appeal to supra-local regulatory institutions.

2.3. Environmental justice movements in Latin America

As in most Latin American countries, the economic growth ofChile and Argentina has been based on a strategy of commodityextraction and export. This has led to an accumulation of environ-mental liabilities in terms of deforestation, contamination and landdegradation. According to many Chilean authors, those liabilitiesand the dissemination of global environmental concerns are theorigin of the emergence of Chilean environmentalism in the1990s (Sabatini, 1997, Sabatini and Sepulveda, 1997, Padilla,2000). In the 1960s and the 1970s, small conservationist groupswere formed and in the 1980s environmental scientists and activ-ists emerged at a time of opposition to the dictatorship. It was in1989, returning to civilian rule that the ‘First National Meeting ofEnvironmental Action Organisations’ took place in Chile (Carru-thers, 2001). According to Folchi (2001), there are many conflictsrelated to the environment in Chile’s history. However, it was inthe 1990s that some struggles started to be named ‘environmentalconflicts’ (Sabatini, 1997, Carruthers and Rodriguez, 2009). InArgentina, small environmental groups emerged during the dicta-torship in the 1970s, but it was after the end of this period thatsuch groups started to multiply and expand. In 1984, the first na-tional conference of environmental groups was organised inArgentina.

Through the analysis of the emergence of EJM in Latin Americawe highlight three elements: first, the novelty of the formation ofthese movements; second, the redefinition of EJ and its incorpora-tion of new concerns and actors; and third, their articulation with along tradition of human rights and social justice activism in theregion.

The first formal EJ network in Latin America commenced in2001 in Brazil, a country with a large population of indigenous peo-ple and black people. This was possibly the first time the term‘‘environmental justice’’ was explicitly used by Latin American so-cial movements. A few years before, in 1998, representatives fromdifferent US EJM networks visited the country to disseminate theirexperience and to establish bonds with local organisations. Thesemeetings triggered a process of local appropriation and framingof EJ, widening the scope to other social groups (e.g. indigenous,peasants, urban poor), to procedural and participative issues, to re-source access rights and to the recognition and empowerment ofsocial movements and their alternative development models(Acselrad, 2008). In March 2007, a regional meeting on Environ-mental Justice and Mining took place in Oruro, Bolivia, in whichthe relation between mining activities and environmental injusticewas stressed (CEPA/OCMAL, 2008).

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In 2006, the second EJ network of Latin America was formed inChile. In 2004, OLCA issued a declaration entitled ‘‘EnvironmentalJustice, an inalienable right’’. Although the declaration stressedthe unequal distribution of environmental impacts in poor com-munities, it also signalled issues of participation, democracy andindigenous rights (OLCA, 2004).

In 2005, the Citizen Action Network for Environmental Rights(Red de Acción por los Derechos Ambientales, RADA) was foundedin Temuco, to deal with projects affecting Mapuche territories. Thedefence of human rights was a key element in the formation of thisnetwork. In November 2006, a large group of Chilean organisationsmet in Santiago to create the inter-regional5 Network of Action forEnvironmental and Social Justice (Red de Acción por la Justicia Ambi-ental, RAJAS) aimed at ‘‘resisting and mobilizing against plunder’’,alluding to past colonial abuses. The group was concerned withthe impacts and injustices of large-scale mines, plantations, hydro-power plants, and other industries mainly driven by transnationalcorporations and IFIs.

In Argentina, there is still no network explicitly defining itself asan EJ network. However, EJ concerns are deeply-rooted in environ-mental organisation and network claims (e.g. Renace, Unión deAsambleas Ciudadanas). As asserted by Reboratti (2008), theArgentinean discourse of environmental conflicts constitutes an‘‘informal’’ EJ framework. In fact, Argentinean activists and scholarsare increasingly using the term ‘‘socio-environmental conflicts’’,highlighting the relation between environmental problems, socialequity and human rights.

Some authors tend to restrict Argentinean environmental con-cerns to urban middle-class spheres (Maiwaring and Viola, 1985;Reboratti, 2008). However in 1986, 2 years after the reestablish-ment of democracy, a significant environmental conflict with inter-national repercussions took place in Patagonia. A regional andnational movement successfully opposed the installation of a nu-clear repository in Gastre, in what was arguably the first expres-sion of the lively environmental activism in Patagonia (Chiappe,2004). Since the 2000s, coinciding with a period of political andeconomic crisis, social mobilisation and the emergence of two ico-nic environmental conflicts (mining and Uruguay River pulp-millsconflicts), environmental movements expanded gaining publiclegitimacy and support. In 2006, the ‘‘Unión de Asambleas Ciuda-danas’’ (Coalition of Citizen Assemblies) was formed in order ‘‘todefend the common goods, the health and the self-determinationof the peoples seriously endangered by plunder, and the contami-nation that the expansion of different economic activities leaves intheir way’’.6

The emergence of the EJ framework in Latin America did not re-sult from the simple translation of the US-specific definition (Hol-ifield et al., 2009). In fact, as pointed out by Debbané and Keil(2004), EJM are always situated in contingent, multi-scalar and of-ten quite different political, social and economic contexts. The La-tin American interpretation of EJ is a hybrid fusion of importednotions and local, indigenous experiences. In this line, humanrights struggles have tremendous salience for Latin Americans,7

with decades of authoritarianism looming large in their recent pasts(Carruthers, 2008). Since the 1990s human rights activism and reg-ulations have increasingly incorporated ‘‘environmental rights’’(Adeola, 2000; Leff, 2001). The combination of human rights and so-cial justice tradition, environmental concerns, and the experiences of

5 The network uses the term ‘‘Inter-regional’’ instead of National to stress thedecentralised structure.

6 www.asambleasciudadanas.org.ar.7 Argentina has one of the most internationally known human rights movements of

Latin America: the mothers of Plaza de Mayo. Since the 2000s, their members arefrequently active in Argentinean environmental conflicts, as supporters, observers,etc. Adolfo Perez Esquivel (Nobel Peace Prize, 1980) is also a usual supporter ofenvironmental movements.

mobilised communities contributed to the development of a (moreor less explicit) EJ framework in Chile and Argentina.

3. Methods

Pascua–Lama (Chile) and Esquel (Argentina) are both recent La-tin American mining conflicts that linked, for the first time in theircountries, mining issues and environmental justice concerns(Fig. 1). These local conflicts fostered the first national debates onthe environmental injustices of mining. This process culminatedin the formation of two national networks that framed mining con-flicts in environmental justice terms: the RAJAS in Chile and theNational Network of communities affected by mining in Argentina.Both cases started at the beginning of the 2000s and are emblem-atic environmental conflicts at the national and international level(Svampa and Antonelli, 2009; Urkidi, 2010; Walter and Martinez-Alier, 2010).

The analysis of the two case studies follows a similar methodol-ogy, and draws from diverse sources of information. Firstly, we car-ried out an institutional analysis (mapping of actors andorganisations, laws and regulations) and reviewed secondarysources such as Environmental Impact Studies, press releases, leaf-lets, newspaper articles, NGO and academic publications. During asecond stage, field work used participant observation techniques(living in the community, taking part in assemblies, local activitiesand rallies) (Jorgensen, 1989) and in-depth interviews with key ac-tors (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). In the PL case field work took placefrom November 2006 to March 2007. In Esquel, field work was di-vided into two parts: the first, from February to March 2003, andthe second in March and April 2006.

Interviews were conducted in PL and Esquel, 21 and 15respectively. Semi-structured interviews lasted an average of1 h 15 min and explored the history of the conflict, the emer-gence and development of the local movement and its claims.The recorded interviews were then transcribed and analysed.Content analysis was also performed on key documents (e.g.public statements) drafted by actors during the conflict, whichallowed the chronological evolution of the discourse to be stud-ied. The analysis enabled the history of the conflicts, the powerstructures and the narratives of the environmental movementsto be reconstructed.

4. Dimensions of environmental justice in the PL and Esquelgold mining conflicts

This section analyses the results of the PL and Esquel case stud-ies. Both cases are contextualised and developed separately.

4.1. The Pascua–Lama project and the Huasco Valley

The Chilean case study concerns the conflict surrounding thePascua–Lama bi-national mining project, located in the AndesMountains on the border with Argentina. This is the second larg-est gold mine deposit in Latin America. The Canadian companyBarrick Gold, owner of the mine, is the biggest gold mining com-pany in the world in terms of reserves and resources and pro-duction/year (Mining and Resource Company InvestmentResearch Tool, 2009). The estimated investment is 3 billionUS$ and, as in the second case study, it would be an open-pitproject using cyanide leaching for its ore recovery process. Ta-ble 1 presents the main features of the PL and Esquel miningconflicts and projects. The PL mine was environmentally ap-proved in Chile and Argentina in 2006, but its construction didnot start officially until October 2009. Production is scheduledto begin in 2013. According to Barrick (2009), the construction

Fig. 1. The Location of Esquel and Pascua–Lama.

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was delayed due to administrative and legal problems, such asthe division of taxes between Chile and Argentina.

Geographically, the mine is located close to three mountain gla-ciers, at more than 4500 m of altitude and close to the watersources of the Huasco Valley in Chile (Villagrán, 2006). This basinis adjacent to one of the world’s driest deserts, the Atacama. Huas-co’s runoff depends on mountain snows and on glacier thaw, whichrepresents the main water source during long periods of drought.This research focuses on the Huasco Valley (66,491 inhabitants)8

and on the rural municipality of Alto del Carmen (4840 inhabitants),the nearest area to the project.

The major economic activity in the area is agriculture, mainlygrape production for export. Some agricultural lands are stillworked for subsistence farming and goat herding. The Diaguitaethnic group resides in the Alto del Carmen territories and in othermunicipalities of the province, and represents about 20% of thepopulation of the municipality of Alto del Carmen (Ley Indígena,2006).

8 Vallenar, the capital of the valley, has 48,040 inhabitants.

4.1.1. Emerging claims on recognition and participationIn 2000, the first Environmental Impact Study (EIS) for the Pas-

cua–Lama project was presented by Barrick Gold. The impact of theproject on the three mountain glaciers was not examined in thisEIS. This omission fostered concerns in the Huasco Valley, becausethose glaciers are key water sources for the basin. Scepticism aboutthe project came from religious, farming and political sectors in theAlto del Carmen rural community.

The EIS was approved by Chilean environmental authorities(CONAMA), but in 2004 Barrick presented a new EIS with anenlargement of the project. Although participatory activities topresent and discuss the EIS with the affected communities arenot mandatory in the Chilean regulation, the mining company pro-posed a ‘‘citizen participation process’’. Small meetings and dis-semination events were organised (EIS, 2004). The Chileanlegislation only requires that the company publishes an extractof the EIS in official gazettes and regional or national newspapers(Ley de Bases del Medio Ambiente, 1994). After its publication,the affected population has 60 days to review the EIS (accessibleto the public in governmental offices) and present founded objec-tions. In the final decision of approval/rejection, the CONAMA must

Table 1Main features of the Esquel and Pascua Lama conflicts.

Pascua Lama Esquel

Country Chile ArgentinaMining company Barrick Gold (largest mining company in the world) Meridian Gold (Junior mining company)Characteristics of the project (investment, gold deposits,

technology)US$ 3000 million investment US$ 100 million investment17.4 million ounces of gold 3 million ounces of goldOpen pit, cyanide leaching Open pit, cyanide leaching

Affected population Rural, agriculture Urban and rural66,491 inhabitants in Huasco Valley (4840 in Alto delCarmen)

Tourism, agriculture28,089 inhabitants in Esquel

Distance between the project and the affectedcommunity

35 km 6.3 km

Scale of regulation National ProvincialDistance to decision makers 684 km (Santiago de Chile) 635 km (province capital) (1998 km to Buenos

Aires city)EIS presentation is mandatory Yes YesPublic audience is mandatory No YesProject stopped No YesLocal organisations Alto del Carmen Defence Coordination, Vallenar Defence

Committee.Autonomous People’s Assembly (AVA)

Level of involvement of indigenous groups High (independent strategy) Medium (members of the AVA)Relevance of mining in the country’s GDP in 2004 5.7% (MMERC, 2008) 1.4% (MMERC, 2008)Project stage when the conflict started EIS assessment EIS assessment

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take concerns into account and respond to the appellants. How-ever, even if appellants can demand further consideration of theirrequests, their opinions are non-binding and have no veto poweron the official resolution. In Pascua–Lama some appellants arguedthat they had difficulties reading the EIS as it was very long andtechnical, and that in many cases they did not have the knowledgeand resources to present technical allegations. Moreover, they feltfrustrated because although they received responses regardingtheir opinions, they were not taken into account in the final deci-sion. As stated by a female activist of Alto del Carmen, trust inthe process started to erode: ‘‘The public participation was nottransparent on the part of the company. Although they presentedthe Environmental Impact Study, the time for answering was tooshort and you have to check a lot of information’’9 (December2006).

The EIS assessment process brought together people concernedwith the mining project. While preparing objections to the EIS, twoorganisations were formed. They differed in geographical locationand social composition. The first, Alto del Carmen Defence Coordi-nation (Coordinadora de Defensa de Alto del Carmen), was foundedby a local catholic organisation (Pastoral Salvaguarda de la Crea-ción10), local social leaders, small-scale farmers and peasants of Altodel Carmen in order to defend water and life against mining. The sec-ond, the Vallenar Defence Committee (Comité de Defensa de Valle-nar), of the capital city of the province, gathered provincialpoliticians, professionals and environmental activists from this city.OLCA, a Chilean organisation with longstanding experience in advis-ing local movements facing environmental conflicts, and other NGOsfrom Santiago (capital city of Chile) supported both groups withinformation about the legal, environmental and political implica-tions of the project. The key goal of local organisations was to defendwater and glaciers threatened by the project, and central to the locallivelihood. Indeed, agriculture is the basis of the valley’s economy,the main source of income and in some cases the direct means ofsubsistence for the local population.

9 Original quote: ‘‘Igual que el tema de participación ciudadana, no fue, digamos,algo transparente por parte de la empresa porque ellos, si bien es cierto presentaron elestudio de impacto ambiental, el tiempo para responder fue demasiado corto y esmucha información que ver’’.

10 Catholic Pastoral Safeguard of Creation.

‘‘Water is for us the main raw material, since we live from farm-ing (. . .) How are we going to live if they pollute our water?What are we going to live on? What are these poor people goingto live from if they live from a peach or orange tree?’’ 11 (Small-scale farmer, Alto del Carmen, January 2007).

Agriculture was also defended as a cultural good, structuringdaily activities, family, community and inter-community relation-ships, and festivals among other cultural expressions. The inhabit-ants of Alto del Carmen described their life as calm, natural and fullof peaceful and close social relationships, rooted in the farmingactivities. As expressed by a town councillor and farmer of Altodel Carmen, they saw mining and their material and cultural sub-sistence as incompatible: ‘‘mining is death, agriculture is life’’12

(town councillor and small-scale farmer, Alto del Carmen, January2007). The sectors critical to mining argued that the mining projectand its impacts were excluding and denying a certain livelihood andidentity attached to agriculture and water resources. The EIS formalprocedure fostered the construction of participatory demands, butrecognition concerns related to livelihood needs were central forHuasco local inhabitants.

The Diaguita indigenous community saw the mining project asa risk for their collective property rights and for their cultural sur-vival and also presented appeals to the EIS. However, they did nottake part in the emergent anti-PL organisations. This is becausethey had their own political strategy to fight the project. They wentto the courts and claimed that Barrick and its subsidiaries had ille-gally obtained the communal lands of the Huasco–Altino Agricul-tural Community13 (Comunidad Agrícola de los Huasco–Altino,Diaguita organisation). They contacted organisations and lawyersfrom Santiago specialised in indigenous rights (Jose Aylwin andNancy Yañez) and prosecuted the company for the land disposses-sion (interview with Diaguita leader, February 2007). In fact, sincethe 1990s Diaguita people have been litigating for recognition as

11 Original quote: ‘‘El agua, para nosotros, es la materia principal, nosotros vivimosde la agricultura, (. . .) ¿cómo nos vamos a quedar nosotros si nos contaminan lasaguas? ¿De qué vamos a vivir? ¿De qué va a vivir esa gente pobre que vive de unamata de duraznos o una mata de naranjos?’’

12 Original quote: ‘‘La minería es signo de muerte, la agricultura es signo de vida’’.13 The Huasco–Altino Agricultural Community is the Diaguita organisation which

holds the ownership rights of the communal lands, which currently span an area of390,000 ha.

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an indigenous group with ancestral territorial rights14 (Molina,2007; Yañez and Aylwin, 2007).

They also sued the Chilean State in the Inter-American Commis-sion on Human Rights IACHR (suit filed in 2007 and accepted fortreatment in 2010) for failing to respect their right of free and in-formed consent, for not considering the socioeconomic impact ofthe project on their traditional land-uses, and for not taking cul-tural impacts into account in the EIS assessment process. TheDiaguitas saw mining as the last step in the colonisation processthat had been destroying their territory and cultural identity forcenturies (Yañez and Rea, 2006).

‘‘The indigenous territorial rights are not only about land. Theyare also about rights over rivers, lakes and water, as defendedby our ancestors (. . .), water is life (. . .). And there are also rightsover the underground. The knowledge, the identity, and thefeeling of belonging are the base of our existence. All theseare human rights. In short, this is a call for life’’.15 (Letter to Bar-rick Gold by the Diaguita Huasco–Altino Agricultural Community,November 2006.)

While non-indigenous organisations focused on the public dis-semination of mining impacts, the Diaguita Agricultural Commu-nity appealed to the legal system to reclaim their property andprotect their rights. These strategic differences did not create expli-cit conflicts in the Valley, but certain disagreements. The non-indigenous anti-mining groups felt that the Diaguitas were notengaging in a bottom-up deliberation process and were followingan overly narrow approach. As stated by a female activist andshopkeeper of Alto del Carmen:

‘‘I think that the [Diaguita] Huascoaltinean leader has focusedtoo much on litigation and has left the community to one side.We need a lot of work on information’’.16 (Female activist, shopmanager, Alto del Carmen, December 2006.)

In 2004, Barrick Gold launched a local campaign in an attemptto improve its public image. A wide range of activities were con-ducted by the company: from door to door interviews to agree-ments with local bodies (data from interviews, January 2007).Barrick started economic, infrastructure, education and health pro-jects17 in the Valley. In 2005, Barrick settled an agreement with oneof the most influential local opponents to PL: the Huasco OverseeingBoard (Junta de Vigilancia del Huasco18), which divided the localopposition movement. Even if this actor was not part of the localorganisations against the mining its opposition had being politicallyrelevant.

Barrick also fostered the inclusion of some Diaguita groups inlocal development projects (e.g. handcraft). As studied by Kirsch(2007) in Papua New Guinea, indigenous groups were not homog-

14 The Huasco–Altino Diaguitas were granted the legal property rights of thecommunal lands at the beginning of the 20th century. However, they claim that 45%of these lands have been misappropriated and now belong to private owners (Molina,2007; Yañez and Aylwin, 2007).

15 Original quote: ‘‘los derechos territoriales indígenas y su control no son soloasunto de tierras. También son derechos ribereños al agua y a las lagunas, como hansostenido nuestros ancestros (. . .), el agua es vida (. . .). Son los conocimientos, sonsentidos de pertenencia, identidad, fundamento de existencia. Todo eso que tambiénse denomina como derechos humanos. En una palabra, es un reclamo por la vida’’.

16 Original quote: ‘‘Yo encuentro que el dirigente de los huascoaltinos por ejemplose ha ido mucho en ver el tema del litigio y se ha dejado un poco de lado lacomunidad, falta mucho trabajo en información’’.

17 For example, since 2005, Barrick has launched the Productive Development Fundto support small and medium enterprises in Vallenar; in January 2009, it began asocial work project in Vallenar with the Iván Zamorano foundation(www.barrick.com).

18 The Huasco Overseeing Board – Junta de Vigilancia del Huasco – manages thewater resources of the Huasco basin and comprises the biggest farmers of the valley.They received 60 million US$ in exchange for agreeing not to oppose the projectpublicly.

enously positioned. Although the Huasco–Altino Agricultural Com-munity represented a great part of the indigenous population,other Diaguita groups in the Valley did support the mining project.The practical and legal implications of recognising the Diaguitas’cultural and territorial rights drove the recognition debate in thepublic arena. As the following quote explains, the definition ofwhat it means to be a Diaguita was also a disputed matter in theconflict:

‘‘The company has brought in professionals from other parts ofthe country to conduct workshops on the ‘traditional’ Diaguitacrafts, essentially inventing a nonexistent Diaguita culture anddenying the ethnicity of our community. They have raised falseleaders, who are now attending meetings with the companyand the media, discrediting the real leaders of the communityand creating irreconcilable divisions between communitymembers and their neighbours. All these actions have led toconfusion and they have weakened the identity of the DiaguitaHuascoaltinos.’’19 (Letter to Canadian parliament by the DiaguitaHuasco–Altino Agricultural Community, May 2009.)

4.1.2. Jumping-scales and distributional claimsBarrick’s local campaign became a handicap for local anti-min-

ing activists, in addition to the problems posed by municipal gov-ernments and other local institutions, which openly receivedmining funds (e.g. school computers, public buildings). Localanti-mining activists also alleged that they received verbal andanonymous threats (e.g. phone calls, loose screws of car wheels),that were increasing their feeling of despair. Accordingly, in orderto make their case gain public recognition and change the powerbalance, they appealed to national and international networks.OLCA became the stable bridge linking Alto del Carmen DefenceCoordination and Vallenar Defence Committee with supra-local al-lies. The political strategy focused on national and internationalcampaigning against PL and Barrick Gold.

‘‘I base my hopes on the people that support us worldwide,because here there is no hope; we have no hope’’.20 (Womanfrom the Diaguita ethnic group, manager of a little hostel, Altodel Carmen, November 2006.)

‘‘There are international organisations that are supporting ussuch as OLCA, which is working on this issue. I hope thatthrough this it might be possible, at least, to mitigate what thismining company could do’’.21 (Town councillor and small-scalefarmer, Alto del Carmen, January 2007.)

The first criticisms from Santiago resulted in a report explainingthe influences of Barrick on the official mining decision-making.The report edited by OLCA pointed to the leading role of Barrickin the bi-national mining agreement between Argentina and Chile,a key decision that made the PL project politically feasible (LunaQuevedo et al., 2004). The document pointed to the distributiveinjustices of mining regulations in Chile (e.g. low taxation and roy-alties, large fiscal advantages to foreign investors). This report waspart of a wider public debate existing in Chile about the possibilityof re-nationalising mining, to improve the distribution of profitsand to decide who should pay the environmental liabilities aftermines close down.

19 Original quote (it was in English).20 Original quote: ‘‘Yo estaría esperanzada de la gente que nos apoya en el mundo

porque de aquí ya no tenemos esperanza, yo veo que de aquí ya no hay esperanza, no,ya no hay esperanza’’.

21 Original quote: ‘‘Hay organismos internacionales que nos están ayudando, elOLCA, por ejemplo, está metido en este asunto. Ojalá por esa vía, se pueda por lomenos mitigar lo que pueda hacer esta minera’’.

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Social actors advocating for the increase of mining royalties(left-leaning lawyers and politicians, activists, NGO members andsome academics) opposed PL from an economic and distributiveperspective. They protested against foreign investment policiesand natural resource privatisation as harmful to Chilean publicinterests. PL approval was identified as an act of injustice, becausethe Valley would suffer the socio-environmental impacts whileBarrick would benefit financially paying little to the national andmunicipal treasury. Specific anti-PL groups appeared in Santiagoand Valparaiso (Acción Ciudadana Anti Pascua Lama, Autoconvoca-dos contra Pascua Lama de Valparaíso, Colectivo Reexistencia,Coordinadora anti-Pascua–Lama de Santiago).22 These emergentgroups and the previous national links contributed to framing theconflict in distributive terms.

‘‘The plan of transnational companies is to plunder the valley’sresources with the collaboration of local politicians under theprotection of deficient environmental laws and an economicsystem that privileges large capitals despite citizens’ rights’’.23

(Internal letter, Defence Committee of Vallenar, January 2007.)

‘‘[Barrick] works with cyanide and by open-pit, so [the pollu-tion] is absorbed by the air, water and land. This is not whatthey told us. This is a swindle. They only care about takingthe gold away, leaving behind pollution. They do not leave any-thing in the country, nothing at all. They do not leave taxesbecause they always declare losses’’.24 (Catholic nun, Vallenar,December 2006.)

Eventually, in 2006 the Chilean Environmental Justice Network(RAJAS) was formed, and became a stable coalition and space of ex-change with other communities in conflict in Chile. Moreover, aninternational network of communities affected by Barrick wasestablished.25 The distributive argument became a framework ofdiscontent shared by national and international allies and networkssuch as RAJAS. This common position strengthened bonds andencouraged mutual supports. The argument was no longer aboutenvironmental impacts (lack of water and pollution) and social rec-ognition (of local peasantry and indigenous populations) but increas-ingly about the unequal distribution of economic goods andenvironmental ‘bads’.

Foreign academic institutions and NGOs (e.g. Mining Watch, NoDirty Gold, Corp Watch) have also supported local organisationswith demonstrations, international dissemination and technicalassistance. In order to reach a broader public, in the context ofthe current climate justice debate, the international disseminationefforts focused on the intrinsic value of glaciers: ‘‘Making glaciersdisappear is not a problem for this valley or for Chile; it is a prob-lem for the whole world’’.26 (Small-scale farmer, Alto del Carmen,January 2007.) Anti-PL international campaigns turned the case intoone of the most relevant Chilean conflicts of the 2000s, as reflectedin the several reports published in Chilean, Canadian and foreign

22 In English: Anti-Pascua Lama Citizen Action, Valparaiso Autonomous CitizensAgainst Pascua Lama, Reexistence Group, Anti-Pascua Lama Coordination of Santiago.

23 Original quote: ‘‘el plan de las transnacionales [es] saquear las riquezas del valleen complicidad con los actores políticos locales, amparados por una legislaciónambiental deficiente y un modelo económico que favorece como siempre a losgrandes capitales, sin importar los derechos de los ciudadanos’’.

24 Original quote: ‘‘trabaja con cianuro, trabaja a cielo abierto, que esto va al aire, alagua y a la tierra y entonces no es lo que te presentan, la verdad, es un engaño. A elloslo único que les interesa es llevarse el oro y a cuenta de contaminación porque nodejan nada en el país absolutamente nada, no dejan impuestos porque trabajan apérdida’’.

25 Every May international campaigning acts against Barrick take place and the anti-PL activists play an active role in them.

26 Original quote: ‘‘el hacer desaparecer glaciares no es problema de este valle ni deChile, es un problema a nivel mundial’’.

press (e.g., The Economist 23/06/2005, The Independent 20/06/2006, The New York Times 30/06/2006 and Al Jaseera 09/07/2007).

4.2. A gold mining project in Esquel

The second mining project analysed in this article was located6.5 km away from the small city of Esquel, in the Argentinean Pata-gonia (Province of Chubut). With an estimated population of 28,089inhabitants in 2001, the city is the main Andean settlement in theprovince, with the most important transport, service and educa-tional equipments in the region. The region is also inhabited by someMapuche indigenous communities. Esquel municipality lies be-tween the Patagonian steppe and the Andean mountain range. It ischaracterised by water shortages (394 mm/year of rainfall), anddry and sandy soils; however, forests and lakes are also found justa few kilometres away from the city in the mountain range.

Traditionally economic activities were related to public and pri-vate services and agriculture. During the last decades, tourismgained relevance with the development of sports fishing, mountainand ski activities, and the proximity to the Alerces National Park.During the 1980s and the 1990s, due to national economic politicsand severe climatic circumstances, the traditional activities suf-fered a crisis. In 2002, 25% of the population was unemployedand 20% was under the poverty line (INDEC, 2002).

The Environmental Impact Study (EIS, 2002), presented by theUS junior mining company Meridian Gold and that has not beenapproved yet, estimates that the deposit would produce 12 millionmineralised tons (gold and silver) and 130 million tons of sterilerock, using 180 tons of cyanide per month. The project would trig-ger a provincial GDP increase of 4.6%, with a tax revenue equiva-lent to 3.9% of the provincial tax incomes.

4.2.1. Struggling for procedural justiceThe first details concerning the gold mining project reached Es-

quel by mid-2002. National and provincial authorities had alreadyexpressed their interest in the project and started to announce itsarrival to the city to the local press.

During the 1990s, Argentina approved laws and regulationsaimed at attracting foreign mining investment and improving envi-ronmental and participatory rights (e.g. information access, publicaudiences, referendums, public consultations). According to thisframework, the appraisal and approval procedure for mining pro-jects requires the companies to submit an EIS before each stageof the project. Moreover, non-binding public hearings must be con-ducted for public information and participation in the EIS. UnlikeChile, public hearings are mandatory for impacting activities,although the concerns expressed by participants are not binding.

A presentation on the risks related to the use of cyanide, organ-ised by the provincial Mining Department and conducted by a rep-resentative of the future supplier of cyanide to Meridian Gold (DuPont), triggered the first reactions. Claims for procedural justice ap-peared from the very beginning of the information and delibera-tion stages of the project. Doubts about the quality and reliabilityof the information presented, combined with mistrust about theway in which the information was disseminated by the Govern-ment, and the poor space for local participation, prompted theinvolvement of two chemistry university lecturers. ‘‘It was a slapin the face for knowledge, and for the people, because it was likesaying ‘I am telling you these things and you believe them becauseyou are stupid.’ (. . .) we felt an enormous responsibility to tell peo-ple the truth about what was being said.’’27 (Chemistry lecturer

27 Original quote: ‘‘Era una cachetada al conocimiento, una cachetada al pueblo,porque era decir: ‘‘yo les digo estas cosas y ustedes las creen porque son tontos’’’’ (. . .).Sentimos la inmensa responsabilidad de informar a la gente la verdad sobre lo que seestaba diciendo.’’

30 Original quote: ‘‘Nuevamente llegan con sus espejitos de colores, como lo hicieronhace 500 ciclos (años). Vienen por el oro y no dudarán en matarnos como lo hicieronantes.(. . .). El Convenio 169 de la OIT (Organización Internacional del Trabajo) es sóloun reflejo de nuestra cosmovisión y en él dice que se nos debe consultar antes deingresar a nuestro territorio, pero el estado (que reconoce nuestra preexistencia en laConstitución) lo ha permitido, abriendo así las puertas a la empresa minera MeridianGold, entre otras, para que lleve adelante este saqueo de nuestra Wallmapu. . .’’

31

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from UNSJB, March 2006). These academics started to build alterna-tive information channels about cyanide and its related risks. Theyorganised a series of parallel talks and events offering alternativespaces for information and participation.

In mid-October 2002, provincial authorities announced the pre-sentation of the EIS followed, 1 month later, by a public audience.The project was publicly scheduled to start at the beginning of2003. The urge to start the project and the lack of criticism of theauthorities that were suppose to control the forthcoming activity,started to raise concerns regarding the seriousness of the deci-sion-making procedure. Moreover, assessments indicating techni-cal inconsistencies and errors in the EIS were made public(newspapers El Oeste, 1611/2002, El Chubut, 17/12/2002, Crónica17/11/2002).

Unable to establish a dialogue with provincial decision makers,Esquel neighbours contacted various institutions at the local(‘‘Concejo Deliberante’’ [Deliberative Council]), regional (environ-mental organisations), provincial (the Provincial Ombudsman andthe provincial legislature) and national level (National Ombuds-man, Deputies and Senators). These institutions backed the pleafor postponing the public hearing, arguing that more time wasneeded in order to give due consideration to the EIS. Nevertheless,this request was rejected repeatedly by the Provincial Governmentbased on the following argument quoted in a local newspaper: ‘‘Aspecialist could study any particular issue raised by the report inno more than a week. For this reason, we consider the time limitof 60 days excessive’’28 (El Chubut, 7 November 2002). Accordingto this reasoning, the EIS was a technical document intended for spe-cialists and not for members of the public, who were unlikely tounderstand its contents.

‘‘We are changing the face of our town forever. The decisiontaken must not be subject to time constraints or, even less, tothe sensitivities of a few civil servants. . .’’29 (reader’s letter pub-lished in El Oeste, 13/11/2002).

In mid-November 2002, after a period of informal meetings,analysis and deliberations, an assembly of 600 local citizens votedunanimously to adopt a position against the mining project andformed the Autonomous People’s Assembly (Asamblea de VecinosAutoconvocados, AVA) with the slogan ‘No to the mine’. In themonths that followed, AVA led the way to building a movementopposed to the mine.

The acknowledgement of an increasing number of mining per-mits in the region also raised concerns regarding the recognitionof Mapuche territorial rights. Mapuche organisations were activein the AVA, participating in assemblies and rallies. Moreover, in2001, a Mapuche community located near Esquel had already de-nounced to provincial and mining authorities the illegal entry intotheir territory of foreigners, Meridian Gold apparently, withoutprevious consultation (interview with local lawyer, March 2006).As Meridian Gold was campaigning to gain the support of Mapucheleaders, in December 2002, Mapuche communities issued a mas-sive public declaration against mining activities.

‘‘Again, they arrive with their coloured mirrors, as they did500 years before. They come for the gold and they won’t hesi-tate to kill us like they did in the past. ’’ (. . .) ‘‘The 169 ILO Con-vention is only a partial reflection of our worldview, and it saysthat we have to be consulted before entering our territory. Butthe State has permitted it, opening the doors to the mining com-

28 Original quote: ‘‘(. . .) un especialista podría estudiar un tema en particular delinforme, en no más de una semana. Por lo expuesto es que consideramos que el plazode 60 días es excesivo’’

29 Original quote: ‘‘Estamos cambiando el perfil de nuestra ciudad para siempre; ladecisión que se tome que no sea condicionada por el tiempo y mucho menos, quedecida sólo la soberbia de unos pocos funcionarios (. . .)’’.

pany Meridian Gold, among others, to go on with the plunder ofour land [wallmapu]’’.30 (Fragments of the Mapuche Declaration,December 21, 2002.)

Later, as the Assembly contacted other anti-mining movementsand activists new information and experiences from Latin Americagave way to new considerations. As explained by a local activist(March, 2006): ‘‘It was a constant construction, while in a first mo-ment there was a limitation to ecologic concerns, later on, therewas an advance to what the government and company were doing(. . .). More political analysis started to emerge’’.31

For instance, authorities were promoting the positive miningexperience of Catamarca, an Argentinean province located in thenorth of the country. Local neighbours contacted local councillorsfrom these communities and started to exchange informationand experiences via email. Finally, two people from Catamarcawere invited to visit Esquel. They explained that no economicimprovements had occurred in their communities since the arrivalof the mine, the low amount of employment generated and that,for instance, respiratory diseases had increased 300 fold. The visi-tors from Catamarca stressed that ‘‘the gold chimera is a lie’’, andthat ‘‘with what you have [natural resources and environmentpotentials] surrendering to mining is suicide.’’ (August, 200532).

Local lawyers prepared an acción de amparo – an injunctionagainst infringement of rights – based on a procedural fault: thefact that no EIS and Public Hearing was held before the approvalof Meridian Gold exploration activities. This action led to the tem-porary suspension of mining activities in February 2003. Moreover,AVA presented a report to National Human Rights organisationsdenouncing 19 verbal, physical and anonymous threats to its mem-bers (AVA, 2003). In an atmosphere of mounting tension andincreasing mobilisation of the local community, the municipalDeliberative Council approved, at the beginning of February, threemunicipal orders promoted by the AVA: a ban on the use of cya-nide in Esquel,33 a municipal derogation of national and provincialmining laws since they ‘are harmful to the tourist profile and theinterests of the local community’, and the announcement of a publicreferendum on the mining project.

As Esquel’s neighbours considered that the decision-makingprocesses excluded local values and interests, they focused on pro-moting alternative deliberation and participation spaces, andmechanisms for decision-making. The successful call for a local ref-erendum symbolises AVA’s participation concerns, and reflects itspolitical resources. The AVA brought together neighbours with dif-ferent backgrounds: such as specialists – in chemistry, geography,medicine, journalism, law, and education – Mapuche communitiesand spokespeople from Esquel marginal sectors.

4.2.2. Supra-local support and national networkingWith the imminent referendum, the movement searched for

further national and international support. ‘‘We had to send ourcall for help everywhere (. . .) we had to target the national media

Original quote: ‘‘Era una construcción constante, en un primer momento habíauna limitación a lo ecológico después un avance sobre lo que estaba haciendo elgobierno y la empresa’’.

32 Interview conducted by Paula Porras and Roxana Longo with Eduardo Salas.Available at: http://www.cifmsl.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=33.

33 Subsequently rescinded by the mayor on the grounds that it possibly clashed withnational law.

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to improve the dissemination of the conflict (. . .) to contact na-tional organisations’’34 (Zuoza, 2005, p. 156). This outreach cam-paign succeeded to get increasing support from a number ofnational (Ombudsman, politicians, celebrities) and internationalorganisations (Mining Policy Center, Greenpeace). National mediastarted to cover the local conflict (La Nación, Clarín, Página12) andsome protests were organised in Buenos Aires city.

Greenpeace and the Mineral Policy Center wrote reports(Greenpeace, 2003; Moran, 2003), and financed local activitiesand the visit of the US hydro-geologist Robert Moran who held apublic conference explaining the faults of Meridian Gold’s EIS. Hecorroborated AVA’s claim that mining is a highly polluting activityand that there is no example of a clean gold mining project in theworld. This expert had also assessed the community of Tambo-grande (Peru) in 2001. With the aim of affecting Meridian Gold’sreputation AVA succeeded in making the conflict public on theinternational mining website Mineweb, read by mine shareholdersand investors.

On March 23, 2003, the plebiscite was duly held with a turnoutof 75% of the 20,000 eligible voters and 81% saying ‘No to the mine’.In the days that followed, mining activities were halted and theChubut provincial legislature approved a provincial ban on open-pit mining. However, the project was sold to the Canadian com-pany Yamana Gold that is currently lobbying to overcome thesebans.

After the cancellation of the project, AVA promoted the con-stitution of the first national network against mining. In Novem-ber 2003, representatives of communities from six provinces inArgentina met in Buenos Aires and set up the National Networkof Communities Affected by Mining. Its objective was to ‘‘coordi-nate the combat against the plunder and ecocide on our door-steps which is condoned by the current mining legislation’’(RNCAM, 2003). The network identified the root causes of min-ing conflicts to be the laws that grant disproportionate advanta-ges to private investment in mining, neglect the right toparticipation and decision-making at local levels, and promotethe unjust distribution of mining goods and ‘bads’. An economicassessment prepared by the AVA concluded that after accountingfor all the exempted and deducted mining taxes and royalties,the State ends with a negative balance (AVA, n.d.). Moreover,in the months that followed, new anti-mining movementssprang up in different parts of the country. These movementssuccessfully obtained bans on open-pit mining that uses toxicsubstances in seven provinces of the country.

The Esquel case became a national referent and the AVA createdthe ‘‘no a la mina’’ website35 that, in 2010, was still one of the mostcomplete sources in Spanish of news and reports on mining conflictsin Argentina, Latin America and the world. A few years after the ref-erendum the national anti-mining network, composed of localassemblies, joined other assemblies engaged in environmental con-flicts (e.g. Paper-mills, transgenic soya plantations, deforestation,hydropower plants) founding the Unión de Asambleas Ciudadanas.AVA also became a member of international networks and cam-paigns. As stated by an AVA member in an international meetingof communities affected by gold mining conflicts: ‘‘We are not alonein this fight! We are with other communities with similar problemsand we are supported by organisations such as the Mineral PolicyCenter and OXFAM (. . .) thanks to the joint work local campaigns

34 Original quote: ‘‘Debiamos hacer llegar nuestro pedido de auxilio a todo lugarposible. (. . .) teníamos que apuntar a los medios nacionales para dar mayor difusión altema (. . .) contactarnos con organizaciones nacionales.’’

35 www.noalamina.org.

are supporting with respect to the decision of their local assem-blies.36 (. . .) (Oro sucio, 2004).

5. Discussion and conclusion

The Esquel and Pascua–Lama movements demanded participa-tion, recognition and distributional justice. However, through theanalysis of the evolution of their discourses, we identified a changein the relative relevance of each EJ dimension over time.

The official participation spaces were significant in the organisa-tion and the initial claims of both movements. Firstly, these spacesgathered different social actors willing to be informed and to be partof the decision-making. Also, the presentation of the EIS involvedpublic access to the project details and forced affected parts tosearch for expert support, and engage in a technical debate. Sec-ondly, the experience was frustrating given the lack of comprehen-sive information, dialogue and binding participation, which fosteredthe organisation of the movements (Cole and Foster, 2001; Couchand Kroll-Smith, 1997). These issues focused the initial discourseof the movements on procedural and recognition matters.

The resistance movement in Esquel focused on participation,and the movement in Huasco on recognition. The local history ofpolitical activism and the size and power of the mining companiesinvolved is significantly different in both cases. As pointed out byCarruthers (2001), persistent elitism, alienation and de-politicisa-tion motivated by the Pinochet dictatorship weakened Chilean civilsociety. The lack of a massive local mobilisation in PL could be re-lated to these features. Moreover, the successful social interventionoperated by Barrick Gold damaged local opposition and amplifiedthe feeling of resignation and power imbalance between mine pro-moters and local inhabitants, discouraging local activism and thepossibility of participatory actions such as a referendum. Huascoinhabitants focused on recognition demands because there wereno conditions for a procedural justice that would acknowledgethe connections between culture and environment (Escobar,2001; Young, 1990).

The 2001 Argentinean social and economic crisis fostered a na-tional process of reflection about democracy, transparency andparticipation, illustrated by the emergence of neighbours assem-blies (a non-hierarchical and participative organisation structure)all over the country (Rossi, 2005). This experience was inheritedby the AVA in Esquel. Moreover, in contrast with Huasco Valley, Es-quel had wider access to professionals, academic and technicalknowledge locally (Reboratti, 2008). The fast deployment of the Es-quel conflict – 8 months between the announcement of the projectand the referendum – minimised the reach of the pro-mining lob-by, added to the fact that Meridian Gold was a junior miningenterprise.

Although distribution claims do appear at the onset of the con-flicts (e.g. low royalties, number of jobs, high transnational benefitsversus local negative impacts, access to scarce water), they do notbecome the central theme for the movements until later on for atleast two reasons. Firstly, as previously mentioned, the timing ofthe decision-making procedure led to focusing on the participationschemes. Secondly, the economic distribution arguments weremainly exploited by the government and the mining companies.The number of jobs that would be created, the amount of taxes thatwould be paid and the local development that would be generatedwere the main arguments used to promote mining. The affectedcommunities aimed to engage in a wider debate that considered

36 Original quote: ‘‘ No estamos solos en esta lucha! Nos acompañan otros puebloscon problemáticas similares y nos apoyan organizaciones como M.P.C. y OXFAM,gracias a las cuales se hacen estos encuentros, gracias al trabajo en conjunto seapoyan campañas locales respetando las decisiones de las respectivas asambleas(. . .)’’.

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cultural, social, environmental, human health, indigenous rightsand economic dimensions as incommensurable (Martinez-Alieret al., 1998; Martínez-Alier, 2001). The economic benefits couldnot really compensate for the socio-environmental impacts andthe loss of territorial rights that were at stake. The economic distri-butional arguments were associated with mining promoters andthe movements distanced themselves from these economic foci.

Social movements constructed their first arguments againsttheir frustrating participation experience (Arnstein, 1969) andagainst the pro-mining distributional framing of national regula-tions. This process reflects the dialectical and relational nature ofdiscourse construction in mining struggles (Bridge and McManus,2000). Local movements were proposing a much more deliberativeand bottom-up decision process where local values and interestswere not relegated to technical and economic criteria, and thecommunity had the right to reject a mining project.

However, as disputes unfolded, the networks with other com-munities and organisations strengthened, exchanges grew and ac-tions at national and transnational political spaces becamefrequent (e.g. international pressure campaigns, demonstrationsin capital cities, dissemination activities in foreign countries). Theengagement in these networks enriched the movements’ dis-courses and fostered a common frame of meaning about miningimpacts (Keck and Sikkink, 1998). The scale of meaning or problemevolved (Towers, 2000): while in the first stage of the conflicts, theanti-mining movements identified the scale of suffering miningimpacts as local (Esquel or the Huasco Valley), exchanges withother communities and networking activities broadened the per-ception of the scale of problem. It was not just a local problem,but the result of a national and regional regulatory framework thatwas also affecting many other Latin American communities.

Both movements deployed scaling-up strategies in order to influ-ence the scale of regulation, which was national in Chile and provin-cial in Argentina. Esquel succeeded in becoming relevant at the scaleof regulation (obtaining a ban on mining) via a strong local campaign(referendum) supported by national and international NGOs. Thecommon work in the national network against mining in Argentinasucceeded in banning mining activities in 7 of the 23 National Prov-inces. In PL, due to the intense local campaign of Barrick, the localmovement concentrated its efforts on fostering national and inter-national claims, but was unable to stop the project.

Two conclusions about the politics of scale can be drawn fromthese cases. Firstly, in line with Haarstad and Floysand (2007), con-structing legitimate discourses at different scales is part of the keyto success, as shown by the Argentinean case. However, the mainscale of action does not have to be, necessarily, the scale of regula-tion. The Esquel experience does not fit Bickerstaff and Agyeman’s(2009) proposal since a provincial ban was obtained through localaction and supra-local support. Second the effort at PL to influencethe scale of regulation proved insufficient given the power imbal-ances, a long Chilean mining trajectory and a weakened local activ-ism, among other factors that limited the reach of the movement.

Nevertheless, jumping scale fostered the emergence of a broad-er distributive understanding of the conflicts. Mining resistancemovements felt part of a larger group of losers in the distributionof mining impacts and benefits of transnational mining, a legacyof colonial domination and injustices. The following statement bya local Huasco activist illustrates how the local conflict was framedas part of a global problem, a power asymmetry affecting commu-nities worldwide: ‘‘It is a situation that is being lived worldwide.The abuse of those, so powerful leaders, that want to dominatethe world with their fingertip’’.37 (Female activist, shop manager,

37 Orginal quote: ‘‘es una situación que se está viviendo a nivel mundial, del abusodigamos de esos dirigentes tan poderosos que quieren dominar el mundo con la puntadel dedo’’.

Alto del Carmen, December 2006). Sacking and plunder appearedas a main argument in both Chilean and Argentinean anti-miningnetworks, linking these struggles to the Latin American social justicetradition.

While the EJ movement in the United States mainly arose fromlocal waste disposal conflicts, resource extraction conflicts (mining,oil, forestry, biomass exports, etc.) are at the core of Latin AmericanEJ networks. This is the case in Argentina and Chile, but also in Bo-livia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. ‘Plunder’ is one of the keywords of these movements that do not necessarily call themselvesEJM but do focus on the relation between social inequalities andthe environment. These are sensitive issues in Latin American pol-itics, so framing the mining debate in sacking, anti-dispossessionand anti-colonialist terms appeals to Latin American social justicesensibilities (Carruthers, 2008). These features of the Latin Ameri-can EJMs contrast with the US EJ tradition which is more focusedon racial discrimination and intra-national justice.

Indigenous communities relate to another long struggle: therecognition of their indigeneity, territorial rights and worldviews.The approval of specific national laws and international conven-tions was the result of this fight, so indigenous communities ap-peal to these frameworks when their rights are violated (Bakerand McLelland, 2003). In the case of the Diaguitas, the communityhas been engaged since the 1990s in a national trial against themisappropriation of their communal lands. This struggle was inplace when the mining conflict started. The mining conflict wasnot seen as an independent fight, but as a new element of theirongoing struggle. Although they jumped scales and worked withnational and international actors, the Diaguitas followed their pre-vious strategies based on litigation and claims of recognition, dis-tancing themselves from emerging anti-mining groups.

‘‘Water is worth more than gold’’ is becoming the commonclaim of many anti-mining movements in Latin America. Thesemovements are not only about opposing mining activities and theirimpacts but about challenging the development models imposedby central governments. Who has the right to decide about the lo-cal development path to be taken? While Latin American govern-ments and mining companies discuss in terms of revenue andmoney compensation for externalities, communities are demand-ing democracy, bottom-up decision-making, and recognition ofthe links between culture and environment. The idea of ‘good liv-ing’ (buen vivir) that different social actors in Latin America areembracing summarises a critique of unfair development modelsand a new approach for thinking about wellbeing. This line ofthought no longer puts the focus on GDP growth, but switchesthe attention towards local definitions of wellbeing, where envi-ronmental, social and economic needs are integrated.

Moreover, mining struggles are taking place at the extractionfrontiers of key commodities (e.g. copper, coal, bauxite, gold),involving per se a challenge to the increasing material demand ofeconomies, to capital accumulation, and perhaps providing anopportunity for global and local sustainability.

Acknowledgements

A first version of this paper was given at the First Forum of theInternational Sociological Association in Barcelona in September2008. We thank Giorgos Kallis and Joan Martínez-Alier for com-ments, and Martin Walter for the first English revision. This re-search was funded by two PhD scholarships, one from theBasque Government (BFI: 06.303) and one from the Spanish Gov-ernment (FPU). We acknowledge support from the European EN-GOV FP7 Project (266710) and from the Spanish MICINN Project(CSO2010-21979). We also thank the three anonymous reviewersand the editor Gavin Bridge for their very useful comments.

694 L. Urkidi, M. Walter / Geoforum 42 (2011) 683–695

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