The Politics of Natural Resources and Climate Management in Latin America

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

This panel examines the behavior of key state and societal actors in natural resources and climate management. All papers on this panel consider the specific ways in which climate change and environmental degradation have changed the political and economic incentives of state behavior and social mobilization. The first two papers focus on decisions made by the Legislative branch. Campello et al. explore existing cleavages within Brazil’s agribusiness congressional caucus and their salience in the legislative arena. Fernández Milmanda leverages variation in the strength of the partisan right in Brazil and Chile to analyze the capacity of landed elites to influence key lawmaking processes. The findings of both works suggest that there is little nuance in the composition and strength of landed elites in Congress. The third paper by Alcañiz and Gélvez-Ferreira investigates decisions made by the Executive branch, finding that racial inequalities play a role in the allocation of climate disaster funding from the national government to rural communities in Colombia. The fourth paper by Mangonnet and Murillo seeks to explain rural unrest in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay as a result of market and political forces, including shocks to agricultural prices. This research helps explain the cycles of contentious politics across the Global South between commercial farmers and peasants.

Sub Unit

• Division 11: Comparative Politics

Individual Presentations

• Agribusiness Representation and Legislative Behavior in Brazil - Daniela Campello, Getulio Vargas Foundation; Beatriz Rey, Syracuse University; Fabiano Santos, Institute of Social and Political Studies

• How Agribusiness Influence Environmental Legislation in Brazil and Chile - María Belén Fernández Milmanda, Trinity College

• Collective Land, Race, and State Funding for Climate Disasters in Colombia - Isabella Alcaniz, University of Maryland, College Park

• Rural Unrest in Times of Economic Affluence - Maria Victoria Murillo, Columbia University; Jorge G Mangonnet, Vanderbilt University

Chair

• Daniela Campello Getulio Vargas Foundation

Discussant

• Juan Pablo Luna McGill University