Replace One´s Place: The Livelihood of Internally Displaced People in Colombia

Colombia es el país con el número más alto en desplazados internos en el mundo. La población rural huye generalmente por la violencia generada en el conflicto armado. Pero también los llamados “proyectos de desarrollo” de empresas multinacionales que invierten en infraestructura generalmente afectan a comunidades locales. El Banco Mundial ofrece un manual de operaciones (4.12) para los “reasentamientos inducidos por el desarrollo” para evitar el empobrecimiento. El manual pone énfasis en la devolución de los bienes desubsistencia (livelihood) de la población reasentada. Pero, ¿comparte la población afectada por desplazamiento el mismo concepto de subsistencia (livelihood)? ¿Se puede reemplazar el lugar (place)? Entrevistas profundas con personas afectadas enseñan que cultura y proyecto de vida están relacionados fuertemente con lugar e identidad. A través de los resultados un enfoque (approach) de livelihood basado en el concepto de lugar es desarrollado y reúne la teoría de livelihood con la teoría del Buen Vivir.Colombia is the country with the highest number of internally displaced people worldwide. Rural populations often flee violence provoked by the armed conflict. Also so called “development projects” when multinational corporations invest in infrastructure, usually affect local communities. The World Bank provides an Operational Manual (4.12) for “development induced resettlement” to prevent impoverishment. It puts its focus on reimbursing the assets of livelihood of the resettled population. But does the population suffering of displacement share the same approach of livelihood? Can place be replaced? This thesis analyses the case of El Quimbo, a hydroelectric project in the south of Colombia, which displaces a peasant community. In-depth interviews with affected people show that culture and life projects are strongly related to place and identity. Through the findings a place-based livelihood approach is developed, bringing together the livelihood and the Buen Vivir (good life/well-being)approach

Ten recommendations for political ecology case research

Contributions in political ecology draw heavily on case study research. This has triggered questions regarding the wider theoretical relevance to such studies. This article argues that one of the main shortcomings of political ecology case studies is not their wider applicability, but that scholars often miss reflection on their chosen cases and case methodology. The purpose of the article is to examine the continued relevance of case study research, especially within more recent advances of political ecology, and to develop ten recommendations for how a political ecology case study could overcome identified weaknesses.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Technology of detachment : the promise of renewable energy and its contentious reality in the South of Colombia

Taking infrastructure as the means to control space, this paper analyses the large-scale hydroelectric dam project “El Quimbo” in Huila, South Colombia, and the environmental conflict it caused. The paper argues that instead of acting as a “technology of engagement” that extends vital infrastructure into marginalised territory, the dam functioned as a “technology of detachment” that destroyed the social and physical infrastructure in place, fragmented territory and marginalised affected populations further. While localised marginalisation can be considered an unintentional side-effect of a project, which otherwise serves the “greater good”, critical conceptualisations of the capitalist state see purpose behind these impacts. Governments use infrastructural objects as tools for social engineering, subjugating their population to control and discipline in line with their biopolitical project. The paper analyses how far this subjugation was visible in the El Quimbo dam case, and critically reflects on the promises of renewable energy. It brings novel insights to the infrastructure citizenship debate by highlighting that infrastructure can act as intermediary between state and citizens but, in the same way, can hamper citizenship formation.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Til forsvar for territoriet : strid rundt miljøpolitikk ved El Quimbo vannkraftverk i Huila, Colombia

This dissertation examines the environmental struggle caused by a large-scale dam project in Huila province, Colombia, and the politics that allowed the controversial hydroelectric power plant “El Quimbo” to start operating in 2015. Through examining different truth regimes around the environmental impacts, the thesis provides a nuanced understanding of the profound differences between conventional apolitical economic and ecological framings of versus political ecology approaches to such investments. It seeks to understand how related politics across temporal and spatial scales structured the possible fields of action of the affected population. More specifically, it analyses how spaces of contestation are opened or closed through the production of knowledge of place, the reconfiguration of space and infrastructure, the distribution of discourses and narratives, the enactment of networks across scales, as well as of democratic control mechanisms. With this, the study contributes to the conceptualisation of aspects of power within political ecology.Denne avhandlingen undersøker en miljøkonflikt forårsaket av et storskala damprosjekt i Huila-provinsen, Colombia, og politikken som muliggjorde igangsettelsen av det kontroversielle vannkraftverket “El Quimbo” i 2015. Gjennom en studie av forskjellige sannhetsregimer rundt miljøkonsekvenser, gir avhandlingen nyansert innsikt i de dype forskjellene mellom konvensjonelle apolitiske økonomiske og økologiske rammer for forståelse, versus politisk økologiske tilnærminger til slike investeringer. Studien søker å forstå hvordan politikk utført over tid og i ulike kontekster strukturerte de mulige handlingsfeltene til den berørte befolkningen. Mer spesifikt analyserer den hvordan kontroversielle handlingsrom åpnes eller lukkes gjennom produksjon av kunnskap om sted, rekonfigurering av rom og infrastruktur, distribusjon av diskurser og fortellinger, dannelse av nettverk “mellom skalaer”, samt gjennom demokratiske kontrollmekanismer. Med dette bidrar studien til en begrepsfesting av maktaspekter innen politisk økologi.publishedVersio

Engineering reality:the politics of environmental impact assessments and the just energy transition in Colombia

Deconstructing one highly contested environmental impact assessment of a large dam project in South Colombia, this book proposes the Energy Data Justice Framework to assess energy projects for a just transition in Colombia and worldwide

The defence of territory : contested environmental politics at the El Quimbo hydroelectric dam in Huila, Colombia

This dissertation examines the environmental struggle caused by a large-scale dam project in Huila province, Colombia, and the politics that allowed the controversial hydroelectric power plant “El Quimbo” to start operating in 2015. Through examining different truth regimes around the environmental impacts, the thesis provides a nuanced understanding of the profound differences between conventional apolitical economic and ecological framings of versus political ecology approaches to such investments. It seeks to understand how related politics across temporal and spatial scales structured the possible fields of action of the affected population. More specifically, it analyses how spaces of contestation are opened or closed through the production of knowledge of place, the reconfiguration of space and infrastructure, the distribution of discourses and narratives, the enactment of networks across scales, as well as of democratic control mechanisms. With this, the study contributes to the conceptualisation of aspects of power within political ecology

Engineering reality:the politics of environmental impact assessments and the just energy transition in Colombia

Deconstructing one highly contested environmental impact assessment of a large dam project in South Colombia, this book proposes the Energy Data Justice Framework to assess energy projects for a just transition in Colombia and worldwide

Ten recommendations for political ecology case research

Contributions in political ecology draw heavily on case study research. This has triggered questions regarding the wider theoretical relevance to such studies. This article argues that one of the main shortcomings of political ecology case studies is not their wider applicability, but that scholars often miss reflection on their chosen cases and case methodology. The purpose of the article is to examine the continued relevance of case study research, especially within more recent advances of political ecology, and to develop ten recommendations for how a political ecology case study could overcome identified weaknesses

Promise of private finance is blocking peatland restoration

PreprintNon peer reviewe