Dr Valeria Guarneros-Meza of CURA reports from an ongoing investigation into environmental conflict in Mexico. Outputs from the collaborative research “Conversing with Goliath” have recently been reported in Mexican media, see details below.
Despite the normative framework promoting consultation and participation of communities in the implementation of extractive megaprojects, violent conflicts have increased in Mexico since the introduction of the 2013-14 legal reforms of mineral, hydrocarbon and alternative energy projects.
In finding answers to this paradox, the questions that drive this research are: What strategies have been used by the different actors to manage the above mentioned conflicts? How have the different sub-national contexts of government capacity impacted on the strategies followed? What have been the main obstacles and opportunities for implementing participatory institutions? How have informal and illegal practices intersect in these processes? What have been the main results in the economic, environmental protection and rights (human, political, social) spheres?
In the first two years, the project has delivered a comprehensive newspaper review (Jan 2006-Jan2019) of all environmental conflicts published in the Mexican media. An analysis of the results was widely disseminated in Mexican media outlets on 27 February 2019. To read a summary and consult the cartography of over 800 conflicts visit here (in Spanish).
Other outputs from the project include a juridical analysis of all the laws related to the extractive industry in Mexico and the problems of coordination and coherence of such legal framework, available online (in Spanish). For a brief English summary of the initial findings of three in-depth case studies (Sonora, Tabasco and Oaxaca) of extractive industries and their impact on communities, visit here (pdf).
This project is sponsored by the British Academy-Newton Advanced Fellowship Grant (Ref. AF160219). The lead investigators are: Dr. Gisela Zaremberg (FLACSO-Mexico) and Dr. Valeria Guarenros-Meza (De Montfort University)