Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Trade and Environmental Justice in Latin America

2007; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 12; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13563460701302992

1469-9923

Peter Newell,

Environmental law and policy

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size I am grateful to Lucila Garci´a Lahitou, James Brassett, the journal editors and two anonymous referees for helpful comments on earlier versions of this article. Notes 1. Andrew Dobson, Justice and the Environment (Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 20. 2. For recent examples, see Julian Agyeman, Sustainable Communities and the Challenge of Environmental Justice (New York University Press, 2005); David Naguib Pellow & Robert Brulle (eds), Power, Justice and the Environment: A Critical Appraisal of the Environmental Justice Movement (MIT Press, 2005); Robert Bullard (ed.), The Quest for Environmental Justice: Human Rights and the Politics of Pollution (Sierra Club Books, 2005); Laura Pulido, Environmentalism and Economic Justice (University of Arizona Press, 1996). 3. For detailed analysis of the contemporary politics of trade in Latin America, see Miguel Lengyel and Valentina Ventura-Dias (eds), Trade Policy Reforms in Latin America: Multilateral Rules and Domestic Institutions (Palgrave, 2004); Nicola Phillips, 'Regionalist Governance in the New Political Economy of Development: "Relaunching" the Mercosur', Third World Quarterly, Vol. 22, No. 4 (2001), pp. 565–83; Diana Tussie & Mercedes Botto (eds), El ALCA y Las Cumbres de Las Americas: Una Nueva Relacion Publico-Privada? (Biblos, 2003). 4. For a flavour of these debates, see John Audley, Green Politics and Global Trade: NAFTA and the Future of Environmental Politics (Georgetown University Press, 1997); Carolyn L. Deere & Daniel Esty (eds), Greening the Americas: NAFTA's Lessons for Hemispheric Trade (MIT Press, 2002); Barbara Hogenboom, Mexico and the NAFTA Environment Debate (International Books, 1998). 5. Robert D. Bullard, Dumping in Dixie Race, Class and Environmental Quality (Westview Press, 1990); Commission for Racial Justice United Church of Christ, Toxic Wastes and Race in the United States: A National Report on the Racial and Socio-Economic Characteristics of Communities with Hazardous Waste Sites (Public Data Access, 1987). 6. David A. McDonald (ed.), Environmental Justice in South Africa (University of Cape Town Press, 2002); Peter Newell & Rohit Lekhi, 'Environmental (In)justice, Law and Accountability', in Peter Newell & Joanna Wheeler (eds), Rights, Resources and the Politics of Accountability (Zed Books, 2006) pp. 186–205. 7. Anthony Hall (ed.), Global Impact Local Action: New Environmental Policy in Latin America (Institute for the Study of the Americas, 2006); Maria G. Rodrigues, 'Environmental Protection Issue Networks in Amazonia', Latin American Research Review, Vol. 35, No. 3 (2000), pp. 125–55; Roberto P. Guimarâes, The Eco-Politics of Development in the Third World: Politics and Environment in Brazil (Lynne Rienner, 1995); Helen Collinson (ed.), Green Guerrillas: Environmental Conflicts and Initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean (Latin America Bureau, 1996); María Pilar Garcia Guadilla (ed.), Ambiente, Estado y sociedad: Crisis y Conflictos Socio-Ambientales en América Latina y Venezuela (Universidad Simón Bolívar-Centro de Estudios del Desarrollo (CENDES), 1991). 8. Joan Martinez-Alier, The Environmentalism of the Poor: A Study of Ecological Conflicts and Valuation (Edward Elgar, 2002); Joan Martinez-Alier, 'Ecology and the Poor: A Neglected Dimension of Latin American History', Journal of Latin American Studies, Vol. 23, No. 3 (1991), pp. 621–39. 9. John Crabtree, Patterns of Protest: Politics and Social Movements in Bolivia (LAB Books, 2005); Lucy Alexander, 'Colombia's Pacific Plan: Indigenous and Afro-Colombian Communities Challenge the Developers', in Collinson (ed.), Green Guerrillas, pp. 74–83; Al Gedicks, 'Native Peoples and Sustainable Development', in Collinson (ed.), Green Guerrillas, pp. 34-40; Judith Kimerling, 'Oil, Lawlessness and Indigenous Struggles in Ecuador's Oriente', in Collinson (ed.), Green Guerrillas, pp. 61–74; Héctor Díaz Polanco, Indigenous Peoples in Latin America: The Quest for Self-determination (Westview, 1997). 10. Hall (ed.), Global Impact, Local Action; Norman Girvan, 'Corporate Imperialism and Copper in Chile', in Norman Girvan (ed.), Corporate Imperialism: Conflict and Expropriation (Monthly Review Press, 1976). 11. Sonia E. Alvarez, Evelina Dagnino & Arturo Escobar (eds), Cultures of Politics, Politics of Cultures: Re-envisioning Latin American Social Movements (Westview, 1998); Susan Eckstein (ed.), Power and Popular Protest: Latin American Social Movements (University of California Press, 1989). 12. The network was launched in November 2005 to promote 'progressive water models and other alternatives to water privatisation'. See http://www.tni.org/water-docs, http://www.visionsocialagua.org and Solon Foundation http://www.funsolon.org (accessed 15 May 2006). Also Belén Balanyá, Meredyth Bolwer-Ailloud & Katell Gelebart (eds), Reclaiming Public Water: Achievements, Struggles and Visions from Around the World (Transnational Institute and Corporate European Observatory, 2005). 13. For more on the campaigns and influence on 'insider' environmental groups, see Audley, Green Politics and Global Trade; Deere & Esty (eds), Greening the Americas; Kathryn Hochstetler, 'Fading Green? Environmental Politics in the Mercosur Free Trade Agreement', Latin American Politics and Society, Vol. 45, No. 4 (2003), pp. 1–33; Hogenboom, Mexico and the NAFTA Environment Debate. 14. Hilary French, Costly Trade-Offs: Reconciling Trade and Environment, Worldwatch Paper 113, Washington, March 1993. 15. Caroline LeQuesne, Reforming World Trade: The Social and Environmental Priorities (Oxfam Publishing, 1996), p. 68. 16. Sierra Club, 'Spread the Spirit of Quebec! Stop the FTAA: Make Trade Clean, Green and Fair', Action alert 24 April 2001, http://www.sierraclub.org/trade/ftaa/stopftaa.asp (accessed 21 March 2004). 17. J. Timmons Roberts & Nikki Demetria Thanos, Trouble in Paradise: Globalization and Environmental Crisis in Latin America (Routledge, 2003), p. 57. 18. Ibid. 19. At one point in support of a strong and independent commission, these groups formed part of a self-styled group of seven (WWF, NRDC, EDF, NWF, NAS, Defenders of Wildlife and the Nature Conservancy). See Frederick W. Mayer, 'Negotiating the NAFTA: Political Lessons for the FTAA', in Deere & Esty (eds), Greening the Americas, pp. 97–119. 20. http://www.rmalc.org.mx/rmalc.htm (accessed 31 May 2006). 21. Meeting with NAFTA activists from the USA, Brighton, August 2005. 22. Rosalba Icaza, 'Civil Society in Mexico and Regionalization: A Framework for Analysis on Transborder Civic Activism', CSGR Working Paper, No. 150/04 (2004); Timothy Wise, Hilda Salazar & Laura Clausen (eds), Confronting Globalization: Economic Integration and Popular Resistance in Mexico (Kumarian Press, 2003). 23. The agreement includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela as full members and Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru as associate members. The four original member states signed the Treaty of Asunción in 1991. 24. J. Blum, 'The FTAA and the Fast Track to Forgetting the Environment: A Comparison of the NAFTA and Mercosur Environmental Models as Examples for the Hemisphere', Texas International Law Journal, Vol. 35, No. 3 (2000), pp. 435–58, available at http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl. 25. Diana Tussie & Patricia Vásquez, 'Regional Integration and Building Blocks: The Case of Mercosur', in Diana Tussie (ed.), The Environment and International Trade Negotiations: Developing Country Stakes (Macmillan Press, 2000), pp. 187–205. 26. Hochstetler, 'Fading Green?'. 27. http://www.iirsa.org/home.asp?CodIdioma = ESP (accessed 31 May 2006). 28. http://www.bankwatch.org (accessed 31 May 2006). 29. Discussion with Beatriz Sivero, Amigos de la Tierra, Paraguay, at the 'Enlazando Alternativas 2' conference, Vienna, 11 May 2006. 30. Mario Carranza, 'Can Mercosur Survive? Domestic and International Constraints on Mercosur?, Latin American Politics and Society, Vol. 45, No. 2 (2003), pp. 67–104. 31. Eduardo Gitli & Carlos Murillo, 'Factores que desalientan la introducción del tema ambiental en las negociaciones comerciales: ALCA y una agenda positiva', in Monica Araya (ed.), Comercio y Ambiente: Temas para Avanzar el Diálogo (Organización de los Estados Americanos, 2000), pp. 149–81. 32. Hochstetler, 'Fading Green', p. 4. 33. Balanyá et al., Reclaiming Public Water. 34. Acción Ecológica, http://www.accionecologica.org/alca.htm (accessed 5 October 2004). 35. Global Exchange, 'Top Ten Reasons to Oppose the Free Trade of the Americas', http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/ftaa/topten.html (accessed 2 August 2004). 36. Meeting with Grupo de Estudios Ambientales, Mexico City, August 2002. 37. Acción Ecológica, http://www.accionecologica.org/alca.htm (accessed 5 October 2004). 38. Ibid. 39. La Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas del Ecuador (CONAIE). 40. CONAIE, 'La CONAIE en pie de lucha para que no se firma el TLC', press release, 16 November 2005, http://conaie.org (accessed 18 November 2005). 41. Blanca Chancoso, CONAIE Ecuador, speaking at the conference 'Enlazando Alternativas 2', Vienna, 10 May 2006. 42. Karen Hansen-Kuhn, 'Central Americans Speak Out Against DR-CAFTA: Major Issues and Mobilizations', Alliance for Responsible Trade, March (ART, 2005). 43. Cited in ibid., p. 8. 44. Ibid., p. 10. 45. Luke Cole & Sheila Foster, From the Ground Up: Environmental Racism and the Rise of the Environmental Justice Movement (New York University Press, 2001). 46. Philip Oxhorn, 'From Human Rights to Citizenship Rights? Recent Trends in the Study of Latin American Social Movements', Latin American Research Review, Vol. 36, No. 3 (2001), pp. 163–83, p. 174. 47. Zander Navarro, 'Democracy, Citizenship and Representation: Rural Social Movements in Southern Brazil, 1978–1990', Bulletin of Latin American Research, Vol. 13, No. 2 (1994), pp. 129–54. 48. Miguel Teubal & Javier Rodríguez, Agro y Alimentos en la Globalizacíon: Una perspectiva crítica (La Colmena, 2002), p. 195, author's translation. 49. Chancoso, 'Enlazando Alternativas 2'. 50. Michael Goldman, Privatizing Nature: Political Struggles for the Global Commons (Pluto Press, 1998). 51. Raymond L. Bryant & Sinéad Bailey, Third World Political Ecology (Routledge, 1997); Richard Peet & Michael Watts (eds), Liberation Ecologies: Environment, Development and Social Movements (Routledge, 1996). 52. César Enrique Ortiz Guerrero, 'El ALCA y la agricultura: Un análisis crítico del caso Colombiano', in Jaime Estay & Germán Sánchez Estay (eds), El ALCA y sus peligros para América Latina (CLACSO, 2005), pp. 285–327; Lucía Elizabeth Estigarriba, 'El ALCA y sus consecuencias en la economía campesina paraguaya' in Estay and Sánchez (eds), El ALCA y sus peligros, pp. 327–47. 53. Acción Ecológica, http://www.aclimecologica.org/alca.htm (accessed 5 October 2004). 54. Alex Hughes, 'Who Speaks for Whom? A Look at Civil Society Accountability in Bioprospecting Debates in Mexico', IDS Bulletin, Vol. 32, No. 2 (2002), pp. 101–09; David Sanchez Rubio, Alfaro Solorzano & Isabel V. Lucena Cid (eds), Nuevos Colonialismos del Capital: Propriedad Intelectual, Biodiversidad y Derechos de Los Pueblos (Icaria y Fundacion Iberoamericano de Derechos Humanos, 2004). 55. Ana Esther Ceceña, La Guerra Por El Agua y Por La Vida (Asoc. Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, 2005). 56. Crabtree, Patterns of Protest. 57. Teubal & Rodríguez, Agro y Alimentos, p. 197. 58. Saturino M. Borras, Jr, 'La Vía Campesina: An Evolving Transnational Movement', TNI Briefing, No. 2004/6, Transnational Institute, 2004. 59. Peter Newell & Diana Tussie (eds), 'Civil Society Participation in Trade Policy-Making in Latin America: Reflections and Lessons', IDS Working Paper 267 (IDS, 2006). 60. Justin Ruben, 'Demonstrators in Quito Say "No" to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)', http://www.goecuador.com/ezine/enghtml/features/alca_quito.htm (accessed 2 August 2004). 61. Luke Cole, 'Empowerment as the Key to Environmental Protection: The Need for Environmental Poverty Law', Ecology Law Quarterly, Vol. 19, No. 14 (1992), pp. 619–83. 62. Roberto Patricio Korzeniewicz & William Smith, 'Redes transnacionales de la sociedad civil: Entre la protesta y la colaboración', in Tussie & Botto (eds), El ALCA y las cumbres de las Americas, pp. 47–77. 63. Niamh Garvey & Peter Newell, 'Corporate Accountability to the Poor? Assessing the Effectiveness of Community-based Strategies', Development in Practice, Vol. 15, No. 3/4 (2005), pp. 389–404. 64. John Gaventa, 'Crossing the Great Divide: Building Links and Learning Between NGOs and Community-based Organisations in North and South', in David Lewis (ed.), International Perspectives on Voluntary Action: Reshaping the Third Sector (Earthscan, 1999). 65. Roberts & Thanos, Trouble in Paradise, p. 55. 66. Paul A. Haslam, 'Surplus Values: The Americas at a Crossroads in the Corporate Social Responsibility Debate', FOCAL Policy Paper, March, 2003. 67. Meeting with activists in Los Tuxtlas, San Andrés Tuxtla, Veracruz, Mexico, August 2002. See also Fernanda Maria Paz, 'Participación, cultura y política. Reflexiones sobre la acción colectiva en el corridor biológico Chichinautzin, Morelos', Mirada Antropológica, Vol. 3, No. 4 (2005), pp. 9–25; Carlos Cortez & Luisa Paré, 'Conflicting Rights, Environmental Agendas and the Challenge of Accountability: Social Mobilization and Protected Natural Areas in Mexico', in Peter Newell & Joanna Wheeler (eds), Rights, Resources and the Politics of Accountability (Zed Books, 2006), pp. 101–22. 68. A demonstration at the Zocalo in Mexico city against the PPP and FTAA attended by many campesino and trade union activists, May 2002. 69. Meeting with Carolina Perez Colman, Second Secretary, Argentine embassy in the UK, London, 1 June 2006. 70. 'Puentes cortdados', Página/12, 8 January 2006, pp. 1–5. 71. Ibid. 72. 'Cortaron puentes y rutas a Uruguay; cientos de turistas fueron afectados', La Nación, 31 December 2005, p. 1; 'Amenazan con más cortes sorpresivos por las papeleras', La Razón, 4 January 2006, p. 1. 73. 'Statute of the River Uruguay', signed at Salto by Uruguay and Argentina on 26 February 1975. 74. Mariano Obarrio, 'No hubo reunion de Vázquez y Kirchner', La Nación, 11 March 2006. 75. 'El episcopado Uruguayo propone ir juntos a la corte de La Haya', Página/12, 19 April 2006, p. 2. International Court of Justice, 'Argentina Institutes Proceedings against Uruguay and Requests the Court to Indicate Provisional Mmeasures', press release, 4 May 2006. 76. European Union Commissioner for Trade, Peter Mandelson is also alleged to have sent a letter to the World Bank urging it to finance the project from which European multinationals would benefit. Interview material. 77. Friends of the Earth, UKplc in Latin America, briefing (2003); World Development Movement, Law Unto Themselves: Holding Multinationals to Account, Discussion paper, September (1998). 78. Aborigen Argentino, 'Familia Mapuche enfrenta al grupo Benetton por tierra que le pertenece', http://www.aborigenargentino.com.ar (accessed 23 December 2005). 79. Judith Kimerling, 'Oil, Lawlessness and Indigenous Struggles in Ecuador's Oriente', in Collinson (ed.), Green Guerrillas, pp. 61–74. 80. Meeting with Norman Wray, Centro de Derechos Económicos y Sociales, London, March 2001. 81. Roberts & Thanos, Trouble in Paradise, p. 170. 82. Percy Garcia & Harrie Vredenburg, 'Building Corporate Citizenship through Strategic Building in the Oil and Gas Industry in Latin America', Journal of Corporate Citizenship, Issue 10 (2003), pp. 37–49. 83. Roberts & Thanos, Trouble in Paradise, p. 190. 84. Ibid. 85. Ibid., p. 188. 86. Timothy Doyle, Environmental Movements in Majority and Minority Worlds (Rutgers University Press, 2005). 87. Quintín Riquelme, Los Sin Tierra en Paraguay: Conflictos Agrarios y Movimiento Campesino (CLACSO, 2003). 88. Girvan, Corporate Imperialism. 89. Ximena Centallas Rojas, La Nacionalización, Bolivia: Dignidad y Soberania (UPS Editorial La Paz, 2006). 90. Dianne Rocheleau, Barbara Thomas-Slayter & Esther Wangari (eds), Feminist Political Ecology (Routledge, 1996). 91. Antonio Carlos Diegus, 'Social Movements and the Remaking of the Commons in the Brazilian Amazon', in Michael Goldman (ed.), Privatizing Nature: Political Struggles for the Global Commons (Pluto Press, 1998), p. 58. 92. James Petras & Henry Veltmeyer, Social Movements and the State Power: Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador (Pluto Press, 2005). 93. Elizabeth Dore, 'Latin America and the Social Ecology of Capitalism', in Sandor Halebsky & Richard L. Harris (eds), Capital, Power and Inequality in Latin America (Westview Press, 1995), pp. 253–79; Petras & Veltmeyer, Social Movements and State Power. 94. Marcela López Levy, We Are Millions: Neo-liberalism and New Forms of Political Action in Argentina (Latin America Bureau, 2004). 95. Robert Cox, Power, Production and World Order (Columbia University Press, 1987). 96. Peter Newell, 'Race, Class and the Global Politics of Environmental Inequality', Global Environmental Politics, Vol. 5, No. 3 (2005), pp. 70–94. 97. Leticia Durand, 'La comprensión local del ambientalismo en la Sierra de Santa Marta, Veracruz', Mirada Antropológica, Vol. 3, No. 4 (2005), pp. 47–68; Ortiz Benjamín Espejel, 'El desarrollo sustentable en territories indios: A propósito de los problemas étnicos, campesinos y ambientales en el estado de Puebla', Mirada Antropológica, Vol. 3, No. 4 (2005), pp. 68–74. 98. David. V. Carruthers, 'Indigenous Ecology and the Politics of Linkage in Mexican Social Movements', Third World Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 5 (1996), pp. 1007–28.