Conflict, political settlements and the governance of extractivism: the pros and cons of a cross-border comparison, El Salvador and Honduras

• In Event: Comparative mining governance in Latin America: problems of theory and methodology

Abstract

During the mid-2000s, Honduras and El Salvador implemented mining moratoria. By 2017 El Salvador had legislated a globally unprecedented ban on all forms of metal mining, while in Honduras mining was expanding aggressively. These neighboring countries present the explanatory challenge of how to understand the quite distinct trajectories followed by mining policy and politics. We describe these divergent pathways and argue that they can be explained by the interactions between the political economy of subsoil resources, national political settlements, and the ways in which diverse actors have been able to maneuver to take advantage (or not) of openings in these political settlements. We close with a discussion of the possibilities opened up by drawing such cross-border comparisons, and the analytical risks that are involved.

Authors

• Anthony J Bebbington, Clark University

• Benjamin C Fash, Clark University