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PRIVATE CONFLICT REGULATION AND THE INFLUENCE OF PEASANT COMMUNITIES OVER NATURAL RESOURCES

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Maria-Therese Gustafsson
Maria-Therese Gustafsson*
Affiliation:
Stockholm University
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Abstract

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Until recently, the Peruvian government to a great extent has given corporations the responsibility for resolving the increasing number of conflicts with local communities in mining localities. In the literature on political and economic reforms, mobilization, and democratic influence, few studies have addressed the role of corporations in relation to those processes. This study contributes an analysis of how corporate-community relations affect communities' ability to mobilize and influence mining projects. The article is based on two case studies in which local communities pursued different demands and analyzes how corporations used various strategies to deal with demands and protests. The empirical analysis demonstrates that local communities can achieve influence by opposing projects as well as by collaborating with corporations. However, these forms of mobilization have different impacts on the collective identities and organizational structures that are essential to the scope of democratic influence for those groups.

Resumen

RESUMEN

El gobierno peruano ha delegado en gran medida la responsabilidad de resolver el creciente número de conflictos existente entre las comunidades locales de las localidades mineras a las empresas mineras. En lo que se refiere a la literatura existente sobre las reformas políticas y económicas, la movilización y la influencia democrática, cabe destacar que escasos estudios han abarcado el papel de las empresas en relación con estos procesos. Este estudio es una contribución al análisis sobre cómo las relaciones de la comunidad empresarial afectan por último a las posibilidades de movilizar e influir en proyectos mineros. El artículo se basa en el estudio de dos casos en los que las comunidades locales persiguen diferentes demandas, y analiza a su vez, cómo las empresas utilizan diversas estrategias para hacer frente a las demandas y protestas. El análisis empírico demuestra que las comunidades locales pueden lograr influencia en los proyectos de oposición, así como mediante la colaboración con las corporaciones. Sin embargo, estas formas de movilización tienen diferentes efectos sobre las identidades colectivas y sobre las estructuras organizativas, las cuales son esenciales para el alcance de la influencia democrática de esos grupos.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 51 , Issue 2 , 2016 , pp. 86 - 106
Copyright
Copyright © 2016 by the University of Texas Press

Footnotes

I am grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their insightful suggestions. I would also like to thank Martin Scurrah, Almut Schilling-Vacaflor, and Fredrik Uggla for their valuable comments on early drafts.

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