Muddy waters: on the problematic political ecology of the Atrato ruling, Colombia

Abstract

In this article we consider the problematic political ecology of the 2016 legal ruling on the subject rights of the Atrato River in Colombia. Using the innovative idea of bio-cultural rights, the sentence aimed through a series of mandates to address the human rights crisis surrounding the river. Drawing on data and insights from field research and interviews carried out in 2022 and 2023, the article adds significant new data uncovering the complexity of the political, social and institutional setting of the sentence stretching from the river to the seat of government in Bogotá. Our qualitative research tempers some existing assumptions of an ontological shift by providing a thicker description of the ontological clashes, overlaps and practical challenges met by efforts to implement the ruling. The article argues that the everyday challenges out compete the practical significance of the bio-cultural rights introduced by the sentence. The Atrato ruling has resulted in important new legal understandings and mandated significant changes to the governance and monitoring of the river, but seven years on from the ruling violence, insecurity and pollution have increased in the watershed instead of being reduced.