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Socio-Environmental Regionalism in South America: Tensions in New Development Models

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The Rise of Post-Hegemonic Regionalism

Part of the book series: United Nations University Series on Regionalism ((UNSR,volume 4))

Abstract

The argument put forward is that regional integration in natural resources is causing and exacerbating socio-environmental conflicts in ways that undermine ongoing efforts to build more cohesive regional governance. Socio-environmental conflicts present new sources of development tensions related to the asymmetrical distribution of benefits and liabilities of natural resource extraction often at the expense of poor rural communities. In many ways this dimension regionalism contradicts the significant advancement reached in terms of political coordination, raising important questions about current limits to the transformative potential of regionalism in South America.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    UNASUR was a key stabilizing factor in offsetting attempts to destabilize democratic order in Bolivia and Ecuador, and in resolving diplomatic conflicts between Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. It also adopted a common position to support Argentina’s demands of UK compliance with UN resolutions over the Malvinas/Falkland Islands dispute; cooperation over the earthquake in Haiti; condemnation of the coup in Honduras followed by diplomatic actions that aimed to isolate the illegitimate government in international fora.

  2. 2.

    IIRSA website: http://www.iirsa.org/ (Retrieved February 2, 2011).

  3. 3.

    Ibid.

  4. 4.

    http://www.minem.gob.pe/minem/archivos/file/Electricidad/acuerdo%20junio%20%202010.pdf (Retrieved February 4, 2011).

  5. 5.

    http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/3596 (Retrieved February 1, 2011).

  6. 6.

    See Table 7.1 for nationally disaggregated list of socio-environmental conflicts related to mining in Latin America.

  7. 7.

    http://www.somosmercosur.net/

  8. 8.

    “CLOC ratifica compromiso con ALBA de los Pueblos”, V Congreso de la Coordinadora Latinoamericana de Organizaciones del Campo, Quito, Ecuador, 8 al 16 de octubre del 2010, http://www.movimientos.org/noalca/albasi/show_text.php3?key=18360.

  9. 9.

    OCMAL has roots in the work started by the Ecuadorian organization Acción Ecológica in the mid-1990s. Its member organizations come from Ecuador, Argentina, El Salvador, Bolivia, Guatemala, Brazil, Honduras, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Perú. Additionally, there are also two regional networks members, the Central American Alliance against Mining and the Latin American Network of Women for the Defence of Social and Environmental Rights. See OCMAL, http://www.conflictosmineros.net (Retrieved February 5, 2011).

  10. 10.

    Binational Declaration of indigenous communities of Peru and Ecuador affected by mining enterprises Piura, Peru, July 2–4, 2010, http://www.conflictosmineros.net/contenidos/19-peru/5661-declaracion-binacional-de-comuniddes-afectadas-por-mineria (Retrieved February 5, 2011).

  11. 11.

    Declaración del Foro Andino frente a la Gran Minería: Alternativas de las Comunidades, Pueblos Indígenas y Trabajadores: http://www.asc-hsa.org/node/651 (Retrieved February 5, 2011).

  12. 12.

    CONACAMI: http://www.conacami.org (Retrieved February 5, 2011).

  13. 13.

    RECLAME: http://www.reclamecolombia.org/ (Retrieved February 5, 2011).

  14. 14.

    Indictment Declaration of the Ethical Tribunal on Transnational Mining, http://www.olca.cl/oca/mineras/fallo_tribunal_etico_a_mineria_de_frontera.pdf (Retrieved February 5, 2011).

  15. 15.

    REDLAR: http://www.redlar.org/ (Retrieved February 5, 2011).

  16. 16.

    http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/3596 (Retrieved February 1, 2011).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CONICET, FLACSO, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Marcelo Saguier

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  1. Marcelo Saguier
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Correspondence to Marcelo Saguier .

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  1. , Politics & International Relations, University of Southampton, Highfield, Building 58, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom

    Pía Riggirozzi

  2. , Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, FLACSO/Argentina, Ayacucho 551 551, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Diana Tussie

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Saguier, M. (2012). Socio-Environmental Regionalism in South America: Tensions in New Development Models. In: Riggirozzi, P., Tussie, D. (eds) The Rise of Post-Hegemonic Regionalism. United Nations University Series on Regionalism, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2694-9_7

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