Indigenous people, extractive imperative and Covid-19 in the Amazon

Abstract:

The challenge posed by Covid-19 for indigenous people of the Amazon is formidable. Remoteness and institutional racism compound the obstacles faced by the general population of Latin America. However, it would be wrong to assume indigenous communities are helpless. They have an extensive repertoire of strategies to respond to external threats that can be conceptualized as part of community resilience. At the same time, indigenous resilience has been affected by the presence of extractive industries in their territories. Oil extraction, logging, mining and oil palm plantations are some of the many extractive processes in the Amazon. We discuss indigenous communities' strategies deployed to counteract Covid-19 and the role played by extractive industries. Given the failure of the global community to develop, produce and make rapidly and universally available vaccines, the future of indigenous people with respect to the pandemic is entangled with broader geopolitical dynamics that determine who can access vaccination. In the longer run, the resilience of indigenous peoples to external shocks will be contingent on their autonomy and especially on the control of their territories.

Año de publicación:

2022

Keywords:

Fuente:

scopus