ABSTRACT
Since the turn of the last century, the Andean region has witnessed a pronounced escalation of investment in extractive enterprises. Driven in large part by historically high commodity prices and rising Chinese demand, both left-leaning and centrist governments have sought to finance programs of economic redistribution with oil and mineral rents. While generating significant socio-economic benefits throughout the region, these projects have also contributed to the intensification of environmental conflicts, particularly around water. This chapter situates these struggles within the broader history and political-economy of Latin America before considering the reasons for the intensifying focus on water. Drawing on recent ethnographic work in Ecuador, the chapter concludes by arguing that despite the increasing militarization of state responses to indigenous and campesino-led opposition movements, these movements have been successful in generating novel challenges to some of the core assumptions of Western development.
