Environmental racism in colonial continuity: extractivism, socioecological crisis and the Mapuche struggle in Southern Chile

  • In recent decades, extractivist industries in Chile have expanded significantly. One of these activities is industrial forestry, which is oriented towards the export of large quantities of pulp and is now one of the country’s most important economic sectors. However, its extremely extensive monocultures of pine and eucalyptus plantations in the central south of Chile are associated with widespread social exclusion and ecological destruction. But forestry is not the only source of conflict. In recent decades, Indigenous territory has been revalued for its potential to produce non-conventional renewable energies, which has meant the deployment of numerous hydroelectric, wind and photovoltaic projects that have opened up a new field of conflict. This is especially true in the former territory of the indigenous Mapuche. Their mode of production and living is particularly affected by the destruction of the ecosystems by forest plantations and energy projects. Our contribution shows,In recent decades, extractivist industries in Chile have expanded significantly. One of these activities is industrial forestry, which is oriented towards the export of large quantities of pulp and is now one of the country’s most important economic sectors. However, its extremely extensive monocultures of pine and eucalyptus plantations in the central south of Chile are associated with widespread social exclusion and ecological destruction. But forestry is not the only source of conflict. In recent decades, Indigenous territory has been revalued for its potential to produce non-conventional renewable energies, which has meant the deployment of numerous hydroelectric, wind and photovoltaic projects that have opened up a new field of conflict. This is especially true in the former territory of the indigenous Mapuche. Their mode of production and living is particularly affected by the destruction of the ecosystems by forest plantations and energy projects. Our contribution shows, first, that especially in the context of progressive climate change, these industrial activities in the central south of Chile lead to considerable ecological destruction and social exclusion. Second, we demonstrate how this primarily affects the indigenous Mapuche and, third, how this can be understood as “environmental racism in colonial continuity”. Finally, our contribution will deal with the question of how the situation in Chile is currently being managed politically and how this is to be assessed.show moreshow less

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Metadaten
Author:Anna LandherrGND, Christian Alister, Jakob GrafORCiDGND, Dasten Julian, Johanna Sittel
URN:urn:nbn:de:bvb:384-opus4-1154387
Frontdoor URLhttps://opus.bibliothek.uni-augsburg.de/opus4/115438
URL:https://www.campus.de/e-books/wissenschaft/soziologie/contested_climate_justice_challenged_democracy-18364.html
ISBN:978-3-593-51914-2OPAC
Parent Title (English):Contested climate justice – challenged democracy: international perspectives
Publisher:Campus
Place of publication:Frankfurt am Main
Editor:Noah Marschner, Christoph Richter, Janine Patz, Axel Salheiser
Type:Part of a Book
Language:English
Year of first Publication:2024
Publishing Institution:Universität Augsburg
Release Date:2024/09/19
First Page:91
Last Page:107
Series:Gesellschaftlicher Zusammenhalt ; 9
Series:Social Cohesion ; 9
DOI:https://doi.org/10.12907/978-3-593-45820-5_005
Institutes:Philosophisch-Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät
Philosophisch-Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Sozialwissenschaften
Philosophisch-Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Sozialwissenschaften / Soziologie
Philosophisch-Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Sozialwissenschaften / Soziologie / Lehrstuhl für Umweltsoziologie mit Schwerpunkt auf Sozial-Ökologische Transformation, Resilienzdesign und Klima
Dewey Decimal Classification:3 Sozialwissenschaften / 30 Sozialwissenschaften, Soziologie / 300 Sozialwissenschaften
Licence (German):CC-BY-SA 4.0: Creative Commons: Namensnennung - Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen (mit Print on Demand)