Facing oil industry: daily dependency and protest in Peruvian Amazon

Abstract

Indigenous groups living in the vicinity of oil installations do not always participate in mobilizations against industrial pollution: the experience of environmental damage is not enough for one to protest. This simple statement arises from the analysis of an emblematic though «microscopic» case, located in a border zone of Peruvian Amazonia. In social surroundings of oil industry, protest seems unlikely, due to the multiple ties that develop between the company and indigenous communities. Based on the ethnography of neighbouring villages of an extractive area, the article studies social transformations are caused by the industry, and their effects on local populations’ mobilizations. That way, it highlights the complex motives and modalities of protest, beyond the seeming obviousness of mobilizations against damages caused by oil companies operating in indigenous territories.

Keywords

• industria petrolera
• amazonia peruana
• etnografía
• transformaciones sociales
• movilizaciones