Challenges of Extractivism in Ecuador: Patriarchy, Environmental Degradation, and Community Resistance

The UCSB Orfalea Center for Global & International Studies convened scholars, policymakers, and indigenous activists from October 25th to 28th, 2023, to address the intersecting crises of environmental degradation and socio-political injustice. Under the theme “The Future of the Amazon: A New Era of Indigenous Activism, Post-Carbon Environmental Models, and Latin American Partnerships with China and the Global South,” the conference emphasized community resilience. This piece explores how Ecuador’s extractive industries reinforce patriarchal structures, exacerbating inequality and environmental harm. It highlight how communities, through feminist political ecology, are actively challenging these dynamics, seeking not only environmental but also social transformation.

Despite political shifts in Ecuador towards more neoliberal policies, the push for an extractivist agenda and its necropolitical impact on the land and its people continues unabated. Pedro Gutiérrez Guevara, a lawyer, mediator and member of Kaleidos Center for Interdisciplinary Ethnography and co-founder of Kuska Estudio Jurídico, discussed the fissures and disasters in extractivist infrastructure. Guevara emphasized the patriarchal and masculine vision that accompanied the construction of the Coca-Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant. Even the means of funding this project were gained through a masculine rhetoric of seduction to bait Chinese investment. Guevara told us of an interview done by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa at the time, in which President Correa made a highly gendered comment, likening banks and financial markets to girls: if one shows too much interest, she will turn away but act disinterested, and she will chase you. This shows us how the patriarchal exercise of power also has a heteronormative, homophobic structure and exists within public discourse. At this moment in time, we were facing not only a racist discourse but a direct application of a sexist, racist, xenophobic policy,” said Guevara. We can see how infrastructures can actually have a performative aspect, embodying these patriarchal notions. Such is the case with the hydroelectric plant, Coca Sinclair, where 100% of the decision-making is done by straight white men, decisions that exploit and damage the indigenous communities, women, children, and other disenfranchised groups. This is a patriarchal and masculine viewpoint, Guevara told us. It is also anchored in different principles of hegemonic masculinity, with attitudes and actions directly linked to the virility of a man.. which is generally associated with ideas of strength, success, development, precisely where the extractivist processes are located,” Guevara said. This power dynamic often leads to violence and anti-democratic acts. As the influence of extractive industries infiltrates communities, there is an increase in sexual violence against women and criminalization against protests. These are not issues unique to one administration or another; they reflect a long-standing pattern within the governance of Ecuador. Now President Noboa has continued this anti-democratic system and extractivist agenda, as he maintains ties with business interests. 

The antidemocratic nature of this extractivist agenda is plainly seen in the events after an August 2023, national referendum against oil extraction in the Yasuní National Park. President Guillermo Lasso ignored the decision, and current President Noboa ran on the promise of supporting the referendum, and has since aligned with extractivist interests. According to Pedro Guevara, “these decisions showcase a decision-making process dominated by traditional, patriarchal logic, emphasizing a model of governance rooted in authority and rationality typically associated with masculine perspectives. Within the framework of extractivist agendas, an anti-democratic mindset is always lurking, undermining even the most direct forms of democracy, such as national referendums initiated by civil society.”

Increased Gender Violence

Instability in oil and mining regions fosters an environment where gender violence flourishes. This is highlited by the too many tales of women, girls, and adolescents living in perpetual fear of sexual assault, domestic abuse, gender-based violence, and societal violence. This type of violence tears into the social fabric, damaging solidarities, life-affirming principles, and the everyday activities of communities belonging to indigenous peoples, nationals, and mestizos. There is extensive research into how this violence disrupts the life cycles of women. Women carry many responsibilities: caring for nature, their children, their husbands, and they are also at the forefront of resistance against mining companies and the State. The State maintains 'sacrifice zones' through militarization, and within these zones machismo violence can occur: femicide is a possible outcome. Guevara stated clearly that “these femicides are linked to mining conflicts, and we categorize them as femicides that do not stem from intimate relationships but are a direct result of the State's push for illegal mining.” 

What to Do? What Are the Needs?

What is to be done? According to Pedro Guevara, there are a number of feasible responses and approaches. Despite these daunting challenges, three approaches offer hope for resistance. First, Guevara advocated for more inclusive and accessible media platforms to amplify community voices and counter the dominant narratives pushed by state and corporate interests. Secondly, he proposed a political ecology of resistance, rooted in feminist theory that reimagines political and ecological justice beyond traditional, punitive approaches. Finally, Guevara stated that it is necessary to rethink the role of the academy, not as a militant entity, but as one that supports and accompanies communities, particularly in contributing to psychosocial reparation processes. He highlighted the importance of inter and transdisciplinary work through participatory methodologies, enabling collaborative efforts with communities. 

Guevara also pointed out the political ecology of extractivism, suggesting that these discussions may indicate a shift towards a dissident academy that not only supports but also makes visible the struggles of these communities. This shift rejects the epistemic extractivism so often present in research, and, rather than exploiting communities’ suffering, supporting their legal battles against serious human rights and environmental violations. He called for transformative actions and structural litigation, acknowledging the neoliberal and neo-fascist tendencies of left-wing governments like those of Rafael Correa, Lenín Moreno, Guillermo Lasso, and Daniel Noboa. Guevara underscored the importance of the community's active role, political imagination, and the need for transnational transformative justice, distancing itself from foreign capital influences. He concluded by advocating for a move away from punitive justice towards transformative justice, involving all parties in the conflict.