Suchergebnisse

In the past two decades, open pit mining in Argentina expanded significantly. Facing this advance, social resistance against activity grew strongly and, since 2003 to date, nine provinces have passed laws banning mega-mining. Based on the study of the approval of such laws in Mendoza and Córdoba, this paper analyzes the incorporation of legal instruments as part of the social resistance repertoire and its positive impacts on processes of legislative incidence. The incorporation of a legal discourse in the actions of resistance –crucial element to promote the advancement and updating of environmental rights– was favored by three elements: the capacity of the disputing parties to complement contentious actions with others institutionally channeled; the plurality of actors involved and the socialization of experiences; and, finally, the achievement of successful results. ; En las pasadas dos décadas, la minería a cielo abierto en Argentina se expandió significativamente. Frente a este avance, crecieron fuertemente las resistencias sociales contra la actividad y, desde 2003 a la fecha, nueve provincias aprobaron leyes que prohibieron la megaminería. A partir del estudio de los procesos de sanción de este tipo de normativas en Mendoza y Córdoba, el trabajo analiza la incorporación del instrumento legal al repertorio de acción de las resistencias sociales y el impacto positivo del mismo sobre los procesos de incidencia legislativa. La incorporación de un discurso legal a las acciones de resistencia, clave para impulsar el avance y reactualización de los derechos ambientales se vio favorecida por tres elementos: la capacidad de los contendientes de complementar acciones contenciosas con otras canalizadas institucionalmente; la pluralidad de actores involucrados y la socialización de experiencias y, por último, por el logro de resultados exitosos.

AbstractAlthough many studies focus on environmental conflict and debates around sustainable development, more research is needed to deepen the understanding of the links between the frames upheld by actors involved in environmental conflicts and governance processes. We propose a dialogue between political ecology and governance to study how divergent valuations of the environment shape intense and long‐term mining conflicts and impact on environmental governance. Focusing on the case of La Alumbrera in Argentina, we argue that three factors disrupt environmental governance and deepen the conflict: divergent valuations that consolidate a growing distance among the images portrayed by the actors; the unequal emphasis that the actors place on the problems and solutions that mining generates; and the inability of the state and mining corporations to process the notions of difference that emerge from the territories.

The article describes and analyzes high court decisions that aim to alter government agendas in terms of achieving intersectoriality. It is based on a comparative study of the judicialization of water pollution in rivers in Buenos Aires and Bogotá, which shows that, although the decisions respond to contextual conditions, they define similar measures for managing the fragmentation of state action, with an important difference in terms of monitoring and control mechanisms. In addition, they open opportunities for the incorporation of actors and articulation mechanisms between sectors and levels of government, which allow for the recognition and operationalization of certain cross-sectoral interdependencies. The article positions the high courts as important actors in the design of public policies; and raises the need to expand research on the results and effects of judicial decisions in order to understand their capacity to structure sustained changes in such policies.