Between Compensation and Consultation: In search of intercultural governance?

• In Event: Mechanismos de participación en la gobernanza ambiental parte II: Mecanismos populares de participation:

Abstract

In this paper I examine two cases of compensation agreements and negotiation processes between indigenous organizations, the oil corporation Pluspetrol and the local and national authorities in Northern Loreto, Peru. These compensation agreements, manifested in two acts, the Act de Dorissa, signed in 2006, and the Acta de Topal, signed in 2011, entail the Peruvian state’s recognition of serious and longstanding environmental impacts of oil operations on indigenous lands, on food availability and health, along the Corrientes River and the Pastaza River. Social mobilization related to the negotiation and the fulfillment of these compensation agreements forced the Peruvian government in 2012 to delay the planned consultation process in this part of the country. In this paper, I will explore, first, the character of these agreements since a wide range of actors (leaders of local communities and of indigenous organizations, advisers working at national NGOs, international NGOs, the oil corporate and various state institutions at the national and regional level) participate in their formulation, negotiation and fulfillment. I ask what kind of political space these agreements create and if they allow for the emergence of intercultural understanding and practices. Second, I explore how these agreements influence indigenous perceptions of the consultation mechanism and their response to it. Third, I discuss what kind of instruments of governance, both of indigenous subjects and of corporate actors these agreements bring about.

Author

• Maria Antonieta Guzman-Gallegos, University of Oslo