Extractive industries, social conflict and institutional innovations in the Andes-Amazon region
The goal of this project is to produce enhanced knowledge about the nature and extent of institutional innovations related to extractive industry that might reduce the conflicts between extraction and development at sub-national levels in the Andean-Amazonian region. The hypotheses that underlie the project are that: under certain conditions, social conflict can be a potent source of institutional innovation; that this potential channel of institutional innovation is understated because conflict is seen mostly as problem to be managed; and that a more constructive view would open up new ways of responding to conflict that increase its propensity to facilitate institutional change.
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Extractive industry, decentralization and development
This project aims to enhance knowledge of the ways in which political and institutional regimes affect the extent, nature and distribution of development opportunities catalysed by the growth of extractive industries (EIs). This will be achieved through a comparison of Peru and Bolivia, and of the different taxation and redistributive regimes for hard rock mining and hydrocarbons in the two countries. The first part of the research will trace the ways in which distinct taxation and revenue distribution regimes have emerged for these two sectors in each of the countries – this analysis will allow us to address the hypothesis that the dominant regimes for a particular extractive commodity are influenced by the institutional and political context in which the regimes initially emerged and that, once codified, these tax and redistribution regimes become difficult to change.
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Territory, Conflicts and Development in the Andes
TCD–Andes is a Research Programme aiming to produce knowledge on the political ecology of social conflicts in the rural area, the factors driving the geography of NGOs and social movements as they relate to these conflicts, the relationships between civil society and political economy under conditions of neoliberalism, the implications for the future of rural environments and societies and the emergence of diverse development alternatives across space.
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Social Movements and Poverty in Peru and South Africa
The collective action of social movements is often said to be one of the most effective strategies that the poor can use in addressing their poverty. However, little is known about: the number, diversity and extent of such movements in particular national contexts; their overall importance in processes of and debates around poverty reduction; and the strategies they use to address the needs of their members. Most research has focused either on individual or small sets of movements, with less attention paid to the overall significance of the movements at wider territorial and national scales.
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Mapping Overlaps between Extractive Industries, Water and Agriculture in Ghana and Peru
The purpose of this research, conducted with the support of Oxfam America, is to explores modes of mapping and visualizing existing and potential overlaps and conflicts among agricultural land use, water resources and oil and mining concessions in Ghana and Peru.
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