Abstract
Although wind farms are generally considered to be a clean and sustainable source of energy production, Lucio reveals from his research with indigenous communities on the coast of the state of Oaxaca that the construction and operation of huge aerogenerators can have devastating impacts on sensitive ecosystems, agricultural lands, and fisheries. His research explores a host of conflictive issues that stem from the asymmetrical power relations between the affected population and the transnational companies who build these wind farms in Oaxaca with the support of key state agencies. Through an ethnographic analysis of organized resistance in two affected communities—Unión Hidalgo and San Dionisio del Mar—the author illustrates the importance of the symbolic construction of “ethno-territoriality” in the formation of a collective agency to contest the construction of wind farms.
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Notes
- 1.
According to Harvey (2003), accumulation by dispossession has become one of the main characteristics of global capitalism and one of the main mechanisms of accumulation in the neoliberal period, based on dispossession through the privatization and commodification of the commons. This process does not depend on the exploitation of labor , but rather on the appropriation and dispossession of resources and territories.
- 2.
The 17 lagoons included in the Huave Lagoon Macro-System are: Superior, Inferior, Mar Tileme, Quirio, Santa Ana, Oriental, Occidental, Lagartero, Palizada, Xhumijama, Xhubabeza, Chingorro, Estero Checheche, Tamarindo, Tineonco, Timocas, and Salinitas (Toledo 1995: 166).
- 3.
The biocultural perspective is considered a strategic dimension for the conservation and sustainable development of indigenous peoples in megadiverse countries, based on three empirical observations: the overlapping of indigenous territories and regions of high biological diversity,indigenous the importance of indigenous people as residents and managers of well-conserved habitats, and the existence of behaviors oriented to the conservation of natural resources and related to the permanence of the knowledge, beliefs, and practices that are characteristic of pre-industrial societies (Boege 2008, 2009; Toledo et al. 2001; Toledo 2002).
- 4.
“Los derechos humanos en Oaxaca , 2009–2012.” Available at: http://www.educaoaxaca.org/images/INFORME_CIUDADANO_FINAL.pdf.
- 5.
While the data mentioned in this testimony are not necessarily exact, they very clearly reflect the strong visual impact of the construction process. There are testimonies that indicate that the number of tons of concrete per aerogenerator is greater than a thousand, while others mention 500 tons.
- 6.
When the implementation of the wind power project started almost ten years ago, the rent paid for reserve lands was 150 pesos per hectare. Currently, the AMDEE assures that the price oscillates between 1500 and 3000 pesos, although testimonies indicate that the average price is about 600 pesos. This is very little compared to an average of 3500 euros that the same companies pay in Spain for reserve land .
- 7.
Declaration of the International Seminar: Energy Mega-Projects and Indigenous Territories. The Isthmus At the Crossroads, Juchitán, Oax., July 26, 27, and 28, 2013.
- 8.
The Municipal Law for the state of Oaxaca establishes two administrative categories within the municipal government, that is, the municipal delegation (Agencia municipal) which must have a population greater than ten thousand residents, and the police delegation (Agencia de Policía) which must have a minimum population of five thousand residents, cfr: Organic Municipal Law of the State of Oaxaca 2015.
- 9.
Complaint of the community of San Dionisio del Mar , August 17, 2012 (Press release).
- 10.
The first encounter was held in the city of Juchitán on November 15–16, 2008.
- 11.
These “political issues” have to do with the following: an important segment of those who oppose the wind power project are teachers belonging to Section XXII of the National Union of Education Workers (SNTE) who are affiliated with the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD). They are likely interested in becoming the intermediaries of the conflict with the state government, because their objective is to negotiate the acceptance of the wind power project in exchange for control of the municipal government, currently in the hands of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). This was the “off the record” comment of a person from Juchitán involved in providing legal advice to community members of San Dionisio; this person even states that for this reason, they wish to provide legal counsel by doing grassroots work with the peasants and fishermen of the community instead of working with the teachers, because the latter may have undisclosed objectives that could derail the whole process.
- 12.
Second Encounter Our Voices of Struggle and Resistance. Unión Hidalgo , July 2011. Words of a community member from San Dionisio del Mar .
- 13.
Press release from the organization Mungier Ndyck, A. C. Defensores del Mar, December 20, 2016.
- 14.
Press release, APIIDTT, April 19, 2012.
- 15.
Press release of the organization Mungier Ndyck, A. C. Defensores del Mar, December 20, 2016.
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Lucio, C. (2018). Winds of Resistance in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. In: Tetreault, D., McCulligh, C., Lucio, C. (eds) Social Environmental Conflicts in Mexico. Environmental Politics and Theory. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73945-8_3
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