Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Going Green: Conflicts over Ecologically Sensitive Mining in the Ecuadorean Andes

University Of Texas At Austin, Austin TX

Investigators

Abstract

University of Texas graduate student, Teresa A. Velásquez, under the supervision of Dr. Charles R. Hale, will investigate the local impacts of "green" development schemes and the reasons why local residents often are divided in their support. The research will be carried out in Ecuador where Iamgold Corporation of Canada, with the support of Ecuador's new government, proposes to build an environmentally and socially responsible gold mine in the Ecuadorian Andes. Iamgold promises to protect nature and provide jobs and social services to agrarian families. Rural residents disagree about the benefits of the mine and conflict has ensued. Three factions have emerged: a group of residents who support the mine, a second group that opposes the mine, and a third group of residents who remain ambivalent. The divisions are transforming social relationships and changing political dynamics in this rural community, making it an approrpriate site for understanding the local social and political impacts of sustainable development projects. Velásquez hypothesizes that Iamgold's plans may animate pre-existing community divisions, and transform them into debates over local support for the mine. She will carry out her investigation using ethnographic research methods, including participant-observation, oral history interviews, and family history interviews. These data will allow her to examine the relationship between access and control over land and water resources, ideology, and the history of state-community relations. This research is important because it will provide a conceptual and methodological framework for other researchers interested in making sense of how communties respond to new development projects. Additionally, the research will benefit policy analysts interested in promoting peace in areas of natural resource conflict. The award also supports NSF's goals of increasing diversity in science by supporting the entrance of women and Mexican-Americans into social science research.