| By A. Bebbington, D. Humphreys Bebbington, J. Bury, L. Hinojosa and M.L. Burneo | Published in Subterranean Struggles: New Dynamics of Mining, Oil and Gas in Latin America. Edited by A. Bebbington and J. Bury. Austin: University of Texas Press. |
Excerpt: In this chapter, we discuss findings from a large-scale comparative research program studying the relationships between socioenvironmental conflicts, territorial dynamics, and development in areas affected by the expansion of extractive industry investment in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru. The program was prompted by investment trends, discussed in this volume, and more so by the increasing levels of rural conflict in the region. The apparent ubiquity of these conflicts demanded interpretations that go beyond individual cases to seek patterns, recognize relationships among cases, and ultimately tie together an analysis of socioenvironmental conflict with an interpretation of the political economy of development in the Andes.