For decades, studies of oil-related conflicts have focused on the effects of natural resource mismanagement, resulting in great economic booms and busts or violence as rebels fight ruling governments over their regions' hydrocarbon resources. In Oil Sparks in the Amazon, Patricia I. Vasquez writes that while oil busts and civil wars are common, the tension over oil in the Amazon has played out differently, in a way inextricable from the region itself. Oil disputes in the Amazon primarily involve local indigenous populations. These groups' social and cultural identities differ from the rest of the population and the diverse disputes over land, displacement, water contamination, jobs and wealth distribution reflect those differences. Vasquez spent fifteen years travelling to the oil-producing regions of Latin America, conducting hundreds of interviews with the stakeholders in local conflicts. She analyses fifty-five social and environmental clashes related to oil and gas extraction in the Andean countries (Peru, Ecuador and Colombia). She also examines what triggers local hydrocarbons disputes and offers policy recommendations to resolve or prevent them. Vasquez argues that each case should be analysed with attention to its specific sociopolitical and economic context. She shows how the key to preventing disputes that lead to local conflicts is to address structural flaws (such as poor governance and inadequate legal systems) and nonstructural flaws (such as stakeholders' attitudes and behaviour) at the outset. Doing this will require more than strong political commitments to ensure the equitable distribution of oil and gas revenues. It will require attention to the local values and culture as well.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
University of Georgia Press
ISBN-13
9780820345628
eBay Product ID (ePID)
179658137
Product Key Features
Subject Area
Regional History
Author
Patricia I. Vasquez
Publication Name
Oil Sparks in the Amazon: Local Conflicts, Indigenous Populations, and Natural Resources
Format
Paperback
Language
English
Subject
Economics, Geography & Geosciences, Government, Business
Publication Year
2014
Type
Textbook
Number of Pages
200 Pages
Dimensions
Item Height
229mm
Item Width
152mm
Additional Product Features
Title_Author
Patricia I. Vasquez
Series Title
Studies in Security and International Affairs
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States
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