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The entanglements of oil extraction and sustainability in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Abstract:

Oil extraction is a useful optic for thinking and writing about the future of sustainable resource use. This chapter presents the case of the Ecuadorian Amazon, where indigenous peoples have raised profound questions about oil extraction practices and outcomes. It introduces the dominant ways in which sustainability and oil extraction are currently discussed in Ecuador, and how debates around oil extraction tend to reproduce a particular way of thinking about sustainability. The chapter provides conceptual framework for examining sustainability in Playas, and traces the experiences that shaped how Playas residents see themselves in relation to oil, first resisting and then acquiescing to oil extraction within their territory. It examines the conditions and subjectivities through which people of Playas came to position themselves as supporters of oil extraction, and as potential oil producers themselves, despite popular narratives that associate indigenous peoples with anti-oil politics.