Conflict and social strategy in Peruvian mining and hydrocarbons: The varied uses of participation in environmental impact assessment

Abstract

This article examines how local communities mobilized against extraction use the public hearing that is part of environmental impact assessment. Based on analysis of thirteen important hydrocarbon and mining conflicts in Peru, it observes that in some cases communities acted within the provided participatory space, whereas in other cases they orga-nized “around” or “in reaction” to it, using the institutional procedures as focal points for escalating conflict. The study explains variation in community uses of the hearing using three variables: the stage of planned extraction at the time that conflict broke out; whether the project design placed mobilized actors inside or outside of the project’s area of direct impact; and the degree of unity among the “insiders.”.